Hot Diggity Dog - The Lancaster Dog

Sauerkraut, chunky applesauce

I have lived in Lancaster for most of my life, except for about a year or so in Philadelphia. I feel a very deep rooted connection to this city, this county and its people and culture. This hometown pride has manifested itself in many ways over the years, most recently with this very website. I feel that what this town has offered to me for so long, what it continues to offer, and the things it has yet to reveal, all need to be honored, for now though, I will focus on the food.

Lancaster has been a part of this country since before it was even officially a country. And guess what, it was the CAPITAL OF THE UNITED STATES for one day in 1777. Take that, other places that weren't! Did you also know that there are a lot of Amish people here? Yep, a whole bunch…

The Pennsylvania Dutch, which the Amish are lumped into* descended here from Germany and are responsible for a majority of the culinary identity in this area, many of their delicious contributions have spread far and wide, and though it may not be the healthiest stuff in the world (um… scrapple) it stands as some of the tastiest.

Like, for instance, pork and sauerkraut. Here, we eat it primarily on New Year’s Day  because it is said to bring good luck to your home and family for the year ahead.. This theory may have some holes in it, but one thing is certain, pork and sauerkraut taste great together.

I suppose it is from this great staple of pork and sauerkraut where Hot Diggity Dog drew its inspiration for their “Lancaster Dog”. Never mind the fact that their Vienna Beef hotdogs contain no pork (100% beef) they are salty enough to vaguely evoke the flavor combination. Hot dogs and sauerkraut are always a close second to the real deal. At Hot Diggity Dog, they have built upon the standard model slightly and added applesauce. That's where things get a little tricky…

I understand the idea of wanting to add another defining element to this dog to up its Lancaster ante (the plain ol' hot dog w/ sauerkraut doesn’t exactly scream Lancaster, and besides, their “Milwaukee Dog” already claims that sole ingredient).. the problem is that I don’t think that applesauce really goes that far in symbolizing our culinary heritage very well either.

And there’s another issue I have with the applesauce – while I do enjoy it, and honestly, when I heard about this dog, I was pretty excited to try it, it sounds great on paper, but put into practice… well….

It feels like something is missing, moreso, it tastes like everything is missing. The sauerkraut seemingly kills the flavor of the applesauce and the applesauce, at the very same time, kills the flavor of the sauerkraut. I got a little bit of tartness from the applesauce, and that’s about it, otherwise it was just like a wet stringy pile of nothing on top of a dog that didn’t deserve such treatment. And the bun got it worst of all, too many wet ingredients piled up and took the bun out of the equation by the second or third bite, too soggy to continue doing its job of keeping everything held together.

So it is with great sadness in my heart that I must say –

1)      It was a mess

2)      It tasted bland

3)      For all of its potential, the “Lancaster Dog” let me down completely.

3.3 (I have spoken with Joe at HDD about possibly changing the applesauce out for apple butter-which is WAY more Lancaster county – he seemed very open to the idea…we’ll see how/if that works when/if the time comes)

HOT DIGGITY DOG is located at 1325 Fruitville Pike, Lancaster, PA

Don't forget to "throw the cow over the fence, some hay"

* UPDATE 

 anonymous said - 

"The Pennsylvania Dutch, which the Amish are lumped into..."

Actually, it's the other way around. "The Amish" consists of a vast number of individuals across the country (and beyond, if you can even think that far out!) who subscribe to the faith, beliefs and lifestyle practices of the Amish church.

The PA Dutch--while the most traditional descendants of the church--are a much smaller, regional immigrant-based group whose members happen to be Amish. This makes them a subset and you an idiot.

-hey thanks anonymous, but you didn't have to be a dick.