Audio By Carbonatix
When is a hot dog a haute dog?
When it’s a Snake River Farms Kobe hot dog, that’s when.
This ain’t your granddaddy’s tube of vigorously emulsified petroleum binding polymers but a big, thick cylinder of rich and meaty-tasting beef. Now, Kobe beef has been the recipient of more hype than Lindsay Lohan’s court appearances, and you can bet that, despite these dogs haute pedigree, they’re not
the A5 Kobe that can make a small steak cost as much as a fancy dinner
for two.
The package labeling gives it away: “American-style
Kobe beef.” If you go to the Snake River Farms website, what that means
is Japanese Wagyu cattle (Kobe is an area in Japan where the cattle are
raised) bred with American Black Angus cattle to get beef with the
marbling (and hence, flavor) you just don’t find in those pale
imitations wrapped in plastic in your local giantsupermegamarket.
All that aside, if you want a hot dog that tastes like lightly smoked
beef instead of cheap mustard, relish, and whatever, Snake River Farms’
dogs deliver the goods. The casings don’t have quite the pop! of more
traditional dogs, but they more than make up for it in flavor. They’ve
also got a pretty high fat content, which gives them an unctuous, almost
creamy texture and means the casing splits pretty easily if you’re not
careful cooking them.
You can get them on the Snake River Farms
but you’ve got to order eight packages of five dogs each for a total of
$55, not including shipping. And they’re shipped frozen. Luckily, I
found one local market that sells them fresh, by the individual package.
It’s Carmine’s Gourmet Market (2401 PGA Blvd., 561-775-0105) in
Palm Beach Gardens, where a package of five costs $12.
Not
exactly cheap, but not vigorously emulsified petroleum binding polymers
either.
