Okay… Here’s the latest chapter in the escalating Crazy Burger / Crazy Hot Dog saga… And, of course, these tube-steak monstrosities have surfaced at the globally acknowledged shrine of the Frankfurter, a U.S. Major League Ballpark…
The D-Bat Dog, selling for $25 (or $1.35 per inch!) at Arizona Diamondback
home games. Eighteen inches of jumbo Corn Dog on a bed of Fries,
with Mustard and Ketchup on the side.
Okay… I thought the globally-acknowledged shrine of the Hot Dog (as we know it) was the ‘Nathan’s Original’ original stand on the Beach at Coney Island, c. 1916.
But one MLB team is making a stab at carving out a place in the tube-steak hall of fame with the D-Bat. It’s selling for a hefty $25 at Arizona Diamondbacks home games. Nutty? Sensational? Totally promotional-stunt-licious? Yes, yes, and yes. But the purveyors are apparently getting away with it.
So what’s all the hoopla about?
Well… It ain’t just the price! For a start, the dog is no less than 18 inches in length and it’s served in a rather dramatic presentation, on a bed of fries. The Bat (pictured above) is the same size as the souvenir baseball bat you can buy at the Louisville Slugger factory in Kentucky. But is it really worth $25? No. Nor is the usual Ballpark dog worth the $4 to $7 charged at most major league ballparks. So that’s not really an issue, here.
The Bat is a Corn Dog complete with a bamboo skewer in one end for a handle. The Fries and condiments are nothing out of the ordinary – unless you count the size of the portions. It’s the sheer size, the dietary audacity, of the thing…
But that’s not all!
If you act now, you’ll also be able to get the new Venom Dog, an ultra-hot Habanero Frank topped with Salsa, Guacamole and Black Beans on a traditional (if huge) Hot Dog bun, for just $10.!
The Venom Dog – A foot-long Spicy Dog with all the Southwestern Fixin’s.
So what does it all mean?
It means that, as I’ve said before in my posts on Burger Menu Madness and the ongoing romance Brit Chefs have with Hot Peppers, this is just another indication of the desperation diners, dives and kiosk vendors are facing these days, trying to differentiate their produce from the crushing competition. We’ve gone from mostly harmless novelty approaches to heretofore-unknown extremes in new product design. From the sublime to the ridiculous.
Another point not to be overlooked…
How healthy are these sinful, even hurtful ‘treats’?
I’ve also been on a crusade against the tsunami of added fat, sugar and salt that has flooded the processed and pre-fabricated foods the vast majority of those in the Western World rely on for ‘nutrition’ these days. The Bat is a prime example of Salt and fat gone wild.
And… What about the signature excesses of the Venom Dog? I am, of course, referring to the Habanero Frank, with its overdose of heat, on top of its overdose of Fat and Salt. If you’ve read my post on the wisdom of serving even-hotter Peppers, you’ll already know I think the Hot Pepper thing has gone way too far – and it’s another of the menu extremes to which embattled dog-and-burger shows are going, to attract business. as recently as last week, one Brit pub owner proudly told the UK Daily Mail that his XXX Hot Chili Burger had sent several diners to hospital!
Crazy, crazy, crazy…
Stop the madness!
Let’s all make a Spring Pledge to monitor and manage the Fat, Sugar and Salt in our diets. It’s easiest if you home-make as much of what you eat as possible, from healthy fresh ingredients!
~ Maggie J.