By Scott Detrow
July 4 is a pretty big day for patriotism, parades and, yes, hot dogs. All across the country, people are grilling them, boiling them -- even scarfing them down in competitive eating contests.
But what, exactly, makes a hot dog a hot dog? California legislators are seeking to define it. To see how that idea is playing in the field, I headed over to Dave’s Dogs, a cart that's a couple blocks from the state Capitol in Sacramento.
Vendor Amy Frey typically sells 30 to 50 dogs a day. “I have sweet relish, red caramelized onions, raw onions, sauerkraut and jalapeno peppers,” Frey said. “Ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise. Lots of mustard choices.”
"But what’s below all those toppings? The Legislature, via a bill that passed the Assembly earlier this year and is now in a Senate committee, has a pretty specific definition: “a whole, cured, cooked sausage that is skinless or stuffed in casing, that may be known as a frankfurter, frank, furter, wiener, red hot, Vienna, bologna, garlic bologna, or knockwurst, and that may be served in a bun or roll."