Eating contests are about more than just a casual competition about seeing who can eat the most food the fastest. Major League Eating (MLE) is an actual organization that regulates the sport — much in the way Major League Baseball does. They oversee professional eating contests at fairs and festivals all around the country all year long. Even if you’re not up for the challenge of taking down dozens of hot dogs in a single sitting, you can stop by one of these festivals and be entertained by some of the world’s best eaters — many of them are hosted annually. If it doesn’t make you ill, these eat feats will at least make you marvel at what the human body is capable of! Coney Island, NY Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, July 4 Record: Joey Chestnut, 73.5 hot dogs: 10 minutes Nathan’s Famous Fourth of July Hot Dog…
12 Iconic All-American foods invented right here at home
American cuisine takes a lot of flack for borrowing heavily from other cultures. Even the beloved hot dog and apple pie are imports (thanks Germany and England!). Over the decades, so many nationalities have influenced the food scene in the United States, it might be hard to point to many original inventions in your daily diet. But here are 12 everyday foods that you can proudly say are purely a product of America: Pecan Pie: Pecan pie is practically a food group in the Southern states. To claim anyone else came up with this classic would be a crime. Early New Orleans settlers from France are often credited with inventing the dish after they were introduced to the pecan but by Native American tribes. Corn Dogs: The classic American street food can be traced back to the Texas State Fair sometime between 1938 and 1942, when Carl and Neil Fletcher started selling their corn battered hot…
Sliced ketchup is now a thing
If you’ve ever bitten into a burger — perhaps overeagerly — you’ve likely worn a dreaded ketchup stain down the front of your shirt for the rest of the day. Now, a new invention claims to have solved this condiment problem for you by turning that runny ketchup into trimmed, dehydrated slices. Yup. Sliced ketchup. Thank you @kickstarter for featuring us as a project you love!❤️ #sliceofsauce #kickstarter #thankyouall A post shared by Slice Of Sauce (@sliceofsauce) on Mar 21, 2018 at 8:13pm PDT The product is called Slice of Sauce, and the company behind its creation is currently raising funds on Kickstarter to manufacture the condiment sheets. The slice resembles a piece of fruit leather. It’s made from common ketchup ingredients like vine-ripened tomato puree, distilled vinegar, cane sugar, salt, onion and garlic powders and fruit pectin. Regular ketchup has about 19 calories per tablespoon, but Slice of Sauce contains about 30…
Walmart study shows which states prefer hot dogs vs. hamburgers
No matter where you live in the United States, cook-outs are a much anticipated part of summer. Is there anyone that doesn’t look forward to grilling hotdogs and hamburgers and piling a plate high with all the fixins’? To dive further into this American tradition, Walmart tracked sales of hot dogs and hamburgers in every state leading up to the Fourth of July to gauge where the hot dog and hamburger people hail from. Overwhelmingly, America is a burger nation — a whooping 39 states fell on the burger side of grocery shopping. Maine, Michigan and North Carolina were among the 11 states that made more hot dog purchases. And what’s a cook-out without condiments and side dishes? Walmart also tracked sales of ketchup, mustard and sides. Ketchup beat mustard in all 50 states while potato salad and coleslaw proved to be the country’s preferred side dishes. The study also showed that Texans love their buns. The…
Truly horrible vintage hot dog ads and recipes
For millions of Americans, summer means more hot dogs in their diet. And it seemingly always has. The hot dog, or frankfurter, was culturally imported from Germany, but was instantly popularized in the United States, where it became synonymous with the working-class. As a top-selling street food at hot dog stands and carts, the cased meat treat also became the food face of warm weather baseball games, amusement parks, and all things American culture. No one particular person is credited with inventing the steamed sausage roll we know today, but the earliest references of the word “hot dog” date to the late 19th century (1893) in the New Brunswick (New Jersey) Daily Times and the New York World. Anyone who has ever grown up knows there are unfortunate photos and experiences of our past we wish no one would ever see (Think: Hammer pants, frosted tips, or anything with glitter). The hot dog is no different.…