DAY 5
the highlight of my day was being introduced to the coney dog. uncle jim and chucko decided that my visit to ohio this summer would be incomplete without my enjoying a coney.
"what's a coney?" i inquired innocently.
"what's a coney?!! you mean to tell us you are FROM new york and you don't know what a coney dog is? it's a hot dog, but with coney sauce, and onions, and mustard and cheese on top. you do know what coney sauce is at least, don't you?"
"nope," i replied with a hint of indignation.
"what?!?! coney sauce is the chili you put on top!"
i tried to explain that no one in new york calls a chili dog a coney dog, nor is the chili referred to as coney sauce. quite simply, in coney island, as in the rest of the city, one orders a hot dog (or to some, a frank) and specifies what they do or do not want on it. standard toppings include ketchup, mustard, and sauerkraut. if it's a chili dog you want, it's a chili dog you order.
i'm not sure either of them was able to grasp that the coney is a fictional beast--an invented name, for a delicious food item, which ties it to the American home of the hot dog and all its tasty variations. why, names tell no lies! if something is called a coney dog, surely it must be from coney island. just as haagen dazs must be from denmark. but that's ok, i will let the world have their imaginings about new york, made up delicacies and all. it's a city so well-known that everyone thinks they know it.
needless to say, in my hunt to experience firsthand the mystical coney, chucko led me to skyline chili where i was delighted to find not just a satisfyingly loaded hot dog, but a cheap one too! one coney was just $1.49! i haven't seen a dog that cheap in new york for over a decade. fortunately i was able to snap a shot of one of these elusive, midwestern species of the hot dog before the ones on our table all went extinct:
a loaded coney
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