Page 7 - Bonus Episode: Hot Dog Top Dog

Episode Date: April 29, 2019

In this very special bonus episode, Jackie is joined by hot dog top dog Eric Mittenthal of the National Hot Dog & Sausage Council and she picks his brain on all things hot dogs. Learn more about The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council at http://www.hot-dog.org Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of Page 7 ad-free.Start a free trial now on Apple Podcasts or by visiting siriusxm.com/podcastsplus. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome, guys, so excited to be here today. Today I'm here with Eric Mittenthal, who is the vice president of Public Affairs for the North American Meat Institute, as well as the president of the Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Eric Mittenthal, thank you so much for joining me here today. Thanks for having me. I'm very excited to be on. Dude, I am so excited to actually talk to you about hot dog.

So last year, I heard about your hot dog ambassadorship, regional for the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, and I found out about it three days after the submissions were due. And I kind of lost my mind a little bit on the podcast because I was very upset that I wasn't able to submit. So ever since, it has been my year-long goal to become the Southwestern Hot Dog Ambassador of 2019. And I wasn't really sure how to go about this, but I'm so happy that you met up with me today. So what does your job entail? So I'm the Hot Dog Top Dog.

My job is to lead the promotion of hot dogs and sausages as the great all-American foods that they are. We also bust myths about what's in hot dogs and how they're made and all those kind of common questions that are out there. And then more largely, I'm also vice president of public affairs for the North American Meat Institute. And the Hot Dog and Sausage Council is a project of the Meat Institute. And so I also do a lot of work with media about all kinds of meat and helping to, tell a story of meat and as also a beloved American food and something that 95% of Americans eat every day. Dude, and I really appreciate you and the existence of not only the North American Meat Institute, as well as the Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Now, how did you get into this line of

business? Do you view yourself as a meataholic? Yeah, I'm definitely a meat lover. I always have been, always will be. And I'm a communications guy, you know, career-wise. I was. I was a, There's a TV reporter and I made the switch to do PR and work in the food industry and managed to land myself this job and it's been a dream come true ever since. Dude, that's awesome. Now, you did mention busting myths about hot dogs and sausages. What do you think is the number one myth that people should know about that is actually not true?

Well, the number one myth is what goes in them. Everybody thinks it's everything but the oink is the old saying. And that's not true. That's a good saying, though. Everything but the oink. It's a great saying. It flows very nicely, but it's not actually the facts. The facts are that hot dogs are made with the cuts of meat that are simply sliced away from steaks and roast.

It's very similar to the meat that goes into most hamburgers as well. The difference is that that meat is just ground really finely into kind of a paste. Okay. It's mixed with spices to kind of give it that flavor that you know from a hot dog. dog and stuffed in the casing and cooked. And it's as simple as that. And there are products out there that have organ meats in them. They're actually kind of specialized beloved products in the regions where they're in.

But when those products do include organ meats, that's on the label. So what you see on your label, if you see beef, pork, chicken, that's what's in there. And if it's going to be an organ meats, some of them include liver, liver will be on there. on the package as well. So you know exactly what you're getting when you look at that label. Well, and also, I remember so many people have given me so much shit

for how much I love hot dogs in the past. It's like, oh, it's the anus. Oh, it's the lips. But at the same time, even if it was, I would be fine eating that because then you're using all of it. What does it matter to me? I think it's better to use the whole animal,

don't you think? Yeah, well, there's a big movement for nose-to-tail eating. And, you know, hot dogs don't use the lips and anuses so much. Right. But there are a lot of people who really treasure those products, both here in the U.S., but particularly abroad. And one of the things that a lot of people don't realize is that here in the U.S., we value certain products.

We really like our steaks and our roasts and our ground beef and hot dogs. But all of the other products that were not so interested in, a lot of those intestines and things like that that Americans don't want to eat, other people around the world love those products. It's very cultural, the kind of meat or kind of animal product that you like. So those are exported to other parts of the world where they are more valuable. And it's a way that we're able to utilize the entire animal as best we can. Well, also, I mean, I feel like you pay more money for that kind of stuff anyway, usually. It's the same as when people get worried about getting dosed with their weed, where it's like, why would they put a bunch of LSD in your weed if you got to pay extra for that?

That is true. I can't relate to the LSD and weed example. I apologize. No, no, it's for the best. I just remember my mom is always scared. She's like, you never know with the marijuana. There could be LSD in it. But I think it's just because she read,

what was that? Not the one with the stay gold pony boy. There was one with a kid named Eminem. He got laced with something. But again, it was in the 1960s. Everything was different then. So in the Hot Dog and Sausage Council, it works underneath, like you said.

It works underneath the umbrella of the North American Meat Institute. So are there other councils or organizations underneath the Institute that are for other parts of meat? No, not so much. Hot dogs and sausages kind of got their own focus, primarily because of those myths. And the idea that hot dogs and sausages are somehow worse for you than other products. There was a big push in the 70s to kind of restrict hot dogs and sausages because of health concerns. All the research that's been done since then indicates that those concerns are unfounded.

And so a lot of that misinformation is kind of still around. And so that's why hot dogs and sausages kind of got their own. And at the Meat Institute, we communicate about all red meats, and we also represent turkey products as well. Oh, hell yeah. And so, you know, when there's questions about beef, pork, lamb, veal, anything in there, we're there answering it and certainly out promoting those as best we can. And there are also promotion boards for those specific products, just the general commodities. So there is a beef board that is specifically designed. to promote beef and a pork board.

And so we work together with those groups to promote those products as well. But those groups are specifically tasked with beef and pork, and there's a lamb and veal as well. Oh, hell yeah. I feel like a beef board and a pork board are exactly the kind of porns I would also love to enjoy as well. So all of this is really getting my sausage going. Now, how do you feel about corn dogs? Corn dogs are awesome. Yeah, do you think that corn dogs are, so are they under your jurisdiction as well?

Yes, a corn dog is a hot dog just with a different wrapping. And in fact, we asked a few years ago, what's your favorite regional style of hot dog? And within that, we included corn dogs. And corn dogs were most popular. Really? So people really love corn dogs. And they're a great product and something that is, you know, just kind of an all-American food along with the standard hot dog. Now, speaking of the regional hot dogs, so I saw on hot-dashdog.org, the different regional hot dogs.

Now, I did see as someone that is the hopeful to be the southwestern hot dog. dog ambassador of 2019. Now, I did notice that it just said the California dog. Is there a reason why you didn't go into like the LA street dog versus the Dodger dog? Because they are definitely two different things. I'm new to L.A., so I'm learning about the L.A. hot dog culture as someone that was a New York native, because I was always number one dirty dog all the way. And now that I live here, there's just, it is weirdly such a huge hot dog culture. And I saw on your website as well that Los Angeles has one of the highest consumer rates of hot dogs in the nation. So how do you feel?

Have you ever had like the L.A. Street Dog versus a Dodger dog? So yeah, L.A. sells the most hot dogs of any city in the country, believe it or not. A lot of people think L.A. is all vegan and plant-based and all that. No, no, no. They love their hot dogs. It's interesting. L.A. hot dog culture in terms of kind of being a standard hot dog is a lot less defined than other places around the country.

Other places kind of have their hot dog. And L.A., you have the street dog. It's kind of the bacon-wrapped hot dog. And the Dodger dog is certainly kind of the baseball icon there. The Dodgers also sell the most hot dogs in the major leagues. They're so big. Yeah, it's enormous, which is amazing that they sell as many as they do as well. But, yeah, there's not a real truly defined L.A. hot dog.

So, I mean, I think the street dog is probably more so. The Dodger dog isn't necessarily a regional style as much as it is just a type of hot dog that's popular at the ballgame there. Well, and I do find it interesting as well that I've had numerous street dogs when I go to, like, the little vendors out of the carts, that are actually using sausages instead of hot dogs. Do you feel personally attacked when something like that that is labeled as a hot dog, but it's actually a sausage? No, a hot dog is a sausage, but a sausage isn't necessarily a hot dog. So a hot dog fits into the larger sausage category. So a lot of times products that you might kind of consider a hot dog are really actually not necessarily hot dogs or sausages. A good example is here in Washington, D.C., we have the Half Smoke, which is a beef pork blend with kind of a spicy kick to it.

And it's sold as a hot dog. It's not technically a hot dog. A hot dog wouldn't have that blend and spice mixture that they, that they, that it is. But a lot of people call it a hot dog, you know, when we talk about it, we talk about it as a hot dog, but it's actually a sausage. So that's kind of probably what you're seeing in LA a lot, too. Now, is that the same? So it's like if we're talking the sausage, going back to the word umbrella here, so does that include knock worse, bratwurst, calbasa? Like, does that, so is that just an overall term for tubed ground meat? Yes. Sausage is kind of the overall term. And the differences between all of

those is based in the spices that are used. The type of grind can be a little different. A hot dog is ground much more finely than a traditional bratwurst or some of the other ones. And so, so yeah, all of those kind of fall within the sausage category. And generally, a sausage is going to be ground up meat that's stuffed into a casing and cured in some way. Those are kind of the most important elements to it. Now, this, I don't know if this is too personal of a question, but what is your favorite way to eat a hot dog. I'm a chili dog guy. Coming from the south, I love a good chili dog. It's what I grew up on. And so if I'm going to make kind of my ideal hot dog, I go chili dog. But it's one of those things, too,

that with all the different regional varieties, I love to eat the hot dog that's most popular in every city that I go to. So I eat a lot of different types of hot dogs and they're all great. I've yet to have one that I thought, ooh, that's really not for me. The only thing that I've been a little reluctant on is there's some there's a place in cleveland and i've seen it a few other places as well where they're topping the hot dog with peanut butter and yeah it's not really my bag i yeah i i i feel you on that i don't really like the sweet and savory on my hot dog um necessarily but how do you feel about so how do you feel about the chicago dog then see i'm i'm not against i'm kind of against tomato on a hot dog but i understand that that is sacrilegious even to say especially people that are

Chicago dog lovers. Would you say that like that was in your top five hot dogs? Oh yeah, definitely. The Chicago dog, the blend of flavors is really great and it just really works. And so I've been a big fan of Chicago dogs. That was one of the hot dogs that I'd had before I started here, but I didn't have that until adulthood. And so it was kind of a late introduction to hot dogs for me for the Chicago dog. But it's a really good one. And certainly if I'm in a place where I can get a good Chicago dog, I always do. The tomato thing, the tomatoes work there, but that's one of the reasons why you don't put ketchup on a hot dog. Thank you. In Chicago, you've already got the

tomatoes. Exactly. I had ketchup. That was actually my next question was just do you think that ketchup? I refer to ketchup as chup because I'm fairly anti-chup. And a ketchup on a hot dog is something that to me makes me angry. It actually does kind of make me angry. I think it is a mustard-only food. I understand. There's different strokes for different folks, but it does make me feel good that the top dog also says that chup on a hot dog is sacrilegious. Our etiquette guide says that if you're over the age of 18, you should not be putting ketchup on a hot dog. We get a lot of pushback for that. So you get really mad at us over over that. And you'll see on our Facebook page, we have

some one-star reviews simply because we say no ketchup over the age of 18. But in places like Chicago, they say never ever and they kick you out of the city if you want to put ketchup on a hot dog we're a little more forgiving than that hell yeah it's just not the ideal mixture if you want to put ketchup on your hot dog you know go for it you're just not eating the hot dog in its most finest form exactly you're just not eating it properly so now i did see uh also on hot dash dog dot org that um hot dogs are considered this is you know it's the big question i'm sure you get a lot sandwiches not considered sandwiches it's not considered sandwiches. Now, Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Stephen Colbert was given the definition of a sandwich saying that it is two slices of bread with anything filling in between it. So she said that

it is a sandwich. Now, I personally view a hot dog. If we're going to go down this road as more of a taco, it's American taco. How do you feel about this? A hot dog is a hot dog. I mean, you're right. It's not a taco. It's not a sandwich. It's a hot dog. And, And I saw the Ruth Bader Ginsburg interview, and, you know, it's interesting as a Supreme Court justice, her job is to make a judgment on the evidence that's presented to her. And Stephen Colbert presented her evidence, but she only got one side of evidence. So it made sense that she made her judgment based off of the evidence that she was given. Bees and what was given. But I would say if I went in front of the Supreme Court and had the debate with Stephen Colbert or whoever, I would win 9-0 on.

hot dog not being a sandwich. I love it. I love it. I love it. You know what? We got to make this happen. I don't know how, but we're going to figure out how to make this happen. If it's something that you're into, I think we can get Stephen Goldberg. I think we can get to him at least. We'll try. Now, now we're got to get down to the brass techs. Now, what do you believe are the attributes of the perfect hot dog ambassador? And what would you hope an ambassador would accomplish with their title? Well, we want our ambassadors to be passionate hot dog consumers. And not just people who like to eat hot dogs. We know everybody likes to eat hot dogs.

We want somebody who is truly going to be the hot dog spokesperson and the one who is out there leading the efforts to promote hot dogs just as the same as we are. And so we had some really, it was a really tough decision last year. We had really great applications. And we asked people for their hot dog resumes. And so we wanted to know what makes you, qualified to be the ambassador. And the ambassadors are folks, like the gentleman in the

Southwest, a guy named Tom Lor, he's, I believe in Arizona now, he was in New Mexico, either New Mexico or Arizona. He's gone back and forth a little bit. He did a baseball tour and blog. He wrote a book about his hot dog adventures. And so it's that kind of person who loves hot dogs so much that they're going to write a book and publicly promote their love of hot dogs in every way that they can. Now, would you say that someone could be adding to the hot dog ambassadorship by saying, which is what I was planning on, and adding to my hot dog resume, things like the pro hot dog and sausage songs that I've written that are just covers of other songs that I just write pro meat lyrics for?

Do you think that is that enough, or do I need to go further? That's a good, a good step. I mean, I, I, I like, we like the good, the songs. Certainly, you've got a good platform for, for, for highlighting your, your love of hot dogs and sausages. And, but it's not necessarily just about the platform. It's, yeah, it's showing those examples of, of things that you've done that, uh, that show your love. In the Midwest, our hot dog ambassador was one of the, was one of Vienna Beef's, a hot dog. They didn't have the ambassadors, but, you know, they, they won the competition there, just showing their love of hot dogs.

So, you know, they had a true passion that they've shared in multiple, multiple ways. And that's kind of what we were looking for. Now, I see that you don't accept people voting for the hot dog ambassador. So how do you guys pick when you go through the, is there, do you have a counsel yourself that you actually sit down and go through everything with? Yeah, we went through all the resumes and we narrowed them down. And I think I did the first cut. I looked at them all and said, okay, here's. here's people who could qualify, and then I gave them to our staff, and I said, narrow them down

even more, and we did. And that's how we landed on our ambassadors. We've done voting in the past and on different things in the past. And so it's a little challenging because certainly it becomes a popularity contest amongst people who have larger followers and others. And there's benefit to that, but we want that hot dog passion to shine through as well. So in this case, I think we chose and we haven't decided if we're doing it again. So I've heard from a few people that want to be hot dog ambassadors. So we might give it another go-round and have two ambassadors or make it a yearly service thing.

And we'll retire you as an ambassador over a year after a year. But we've got to figure that part out. How would you give advice to anyone that wants to break into the meat industry that wants to be someone on the forefront of promoting the health and also myth busting like you've gotten into? How would you, like if someone that is not working in public relations. Well,

having a communications background helps. Yeah. And understanding effective communications and ways to, and just how to effectively communicate and work with a range of people. I work with media and influencers and, and podcasters and all kinds of folks. But there has to be a certain amount of belief and passion in what you do as well. you know, I certainly would not be an effective communications person for PETA.

Yeah. And so, you know, you've got to kind of have your heart in it, too, to be able to do it and do it well. So do you have any tips for me and me continuing to show my love for meat? Do you have any tips of what I can do in my career to help you with your job overall, just regardless of ambassadorship? We got to get the meat podcast going. All right. I'm in.

You know what? I said it to the boys, and the boys are completely down. I'm referring to Ben Kissel, Henry Zabrowski, and Marcus Parks, that run the last podcast network. And they're also on last podcast on the left. And I think that maybe we could get something going. Would you do it with me? I would definitely do a meat podcast, yeah. Yes.

I can talk about meat all day, no problem. Hell yeah. Meat, too. That's the better hashtag that no one else talks about. That sucks of you guys can't use that. Yeah, I don't think we can go there. All right, so just my final question. Again, thank you so much, Eric Mittenthal, for joining me today.

Final question, if you could create a hot dog with the toppings that represented your personality, what would they be? Now, my hot dog would be an all-beef, bacon-wrapped, brought that has pickled onions and pickled jalapenos and blue cheese on top. Not your standard and also with mustard. Now, that's not for everybody, but I think that that is a good representation of me. because I'm definitely pungent and I'm stiff, but I'm also delicious. What do you think? Wow, that's a tough question. You know, I get asked a lot of different questions in my role as the hot dog top dog.

That's one I've never been asked before. So congratulations. Thank you. I'm nailing me with a question I've never been asked before. But I understand also if you need to take your time to think because this is, I thought about this for a while yesterday. We launched the last podcast network Twitch channel yesterday, and this was the final segment,

and they gave me some extra time because they knew that this was something that, you know, this is part of my platform. This is the kind of thing that I need to know about offhand. So I also understand if it is, you know, if it's a lot to ask. Yeah. So I have some thoughts. First of all, it's got to be a natural casing hot dog.

Okay. Because, you know, I've got some snap. So I've got that snap involved. So I've got to have the natural casing hot dog. I think the chili is important. You've got to have some of that spice in there. I'm not so spicy. I'm not jalapeno spicy.

But I think some good chili, I'm a little messy. If you saw my desk right now, which is part of why we're not on video doing this, you know, the chili would get a little messy. you get dropped of your church. It's okay. It doesn't negatively impact anybody, but it can be a little messy. I understand. And you know what? I would add, I'm going to go a little Seattle style for my other edition, a little bit of cream cheese. It's nice and smooth, adds a good flavor to the hot dog. Surprisingly good. A lot of people think, hmm, cream cheese on a hot dog, surprisingly good. And that chili cream cheese combination, a little spicy, but adds some smoothness to it. That's me and a hot dog.

That sounds amazing. Well, especially, yeah, I put sour cream on my chili, which I know that offends some people. But that's why it makes perfect sense. That sounds like a great dog, and I think that we need to make this dog happen. I'm going to talk to my guy over at vicious dogs. I've become friends with the manager of the hot dog place around my corner, and his name is Willie, and he's fabulous. And I'm going to see, I'm going to try and get the Eric dog made for you. And then I'm going to get pictures taken.

And I'm very, I think that we can do this. I think we can do this. Thank you so much for joining me today, Eric. Again, Eric is the Vice President of Public Affairs for the North American Meat Institute, as well as the president of the Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Thank you so much again, Eric. And hopefully we will be talking to each other soon, maybe about meat and on a podcast. Anytime.

Love talking meat. And I very much support your love of hot dogs. And so I definitely, if we do the ambassador or whatever we do, I'm going to let you know we're going to get you involved. And we'll get you some good swag. out of it at a minimum. Hell yeah. Thank you so much. We will talk to you soon. And thanks again for listening, guys. We'll talk to you. Bye.