South of the Slaw Line
Sep. 24—Northern and southern cultures vary, and compared to each other, they can be night and day when it comes to having similar practices.
Within the state of West Virginia, there has been a debate spawning among its citizens.
According to former Bluefield Daily Telegraph Lifestyles Editor Amy Persinger, people from the northern and southern parts of the state cannot seem to agree on whether slaw is a necessity or not on a hot dog.
She asked, "Hot dogs — a simple summer staple — are often grilled at family gatherings or enjoyed at fairs and at the baseball park. But is there a 'right' way to top them?"
The majority of the state seems to agree that "everything" on a hot dog includes chili, mustard, onions, and coleslaw, but north of the Slaw Line, which is an imagined boundary line at around mile marker 111 on Interstate 79, it is not usual practice to have coleslaw on hot dogs.
Persinger references Head Weenie Wonk's Stanton Means who composed The West Virginia Hot Dog Blog where they have been reviewing hot dogs in the state since 2006.
They said, "a true West Virginia hot dog is a heavenly creation that begins with a wiener on a bun. Add mustard, a chili-like sauce and top it off with coleslaw and chopped onions and you have a symphony of taste that quite possibly is the reason that many transplanted West Virginians can never really be happy living anywhere else. Different parts of West Virginia have variations on the theme but the common elements are sweet, creamy coleslaw."
Hot dogs served like this are the norm in almost all restaurants in this region.
Berkshire's Old Fashion Frozen Custard in Princeton told Persinger that 75 percent of people order slaw dogs.
"It is a regional thing. Some people don't eat slaw. If they are from out of town they are not used to slaw, but if they try it they really do like it. It's so funny. People come in the first time and they get one hot dog and we laugh because they always come back for another," said owner Merle Berkshire.
Persinger quotes another story from Marie Burrell of J's Grocery in Kegley saying that they had a man from out-of-state come in and try a hot dog that included slaw because he had never heard of doing that before.
She said the customer liked it so much he came back for a second.
There are some places in the region that may be on the side of the north when it comes to the addition of slaw being the standard rather than a request needing to be made by customers.
The local Dairy Queen owner said that their "everything" just meant mustard, onion, and chili, and they usually only have around 50 percent of people adding slaw.
Hot dogs are a staple American food, but they are different across the regions of not only the state of West Virginia but the whole country.
Persinger said, "In Chicago dogs get 'dragged through the garden' with toppings like mustard, onions, tomatoes, dill pickle spears, sweet pickle relish, pickled peppers and celery salt. On the streets of New York and in much of the northeastern United States they are served with onions, brown mustard and sauerkraut."
While this is a slaw dog region, their are some people here that pose some different requests to top their hot dogs, according to Donna Husband at The Corner Shop in Bramwell.
Persinger quotes her saying that she's had people request anything from cheese or relish to deep fried jalapeños.
The strangest part of all of this is the fact that these requests stem from out-of-state, but for some reason, slaw does not seem to have left the south.
Persinger quotes Means' blog saying, "The greatest thing about hot dog blogging is the letters we get from expatriate West Virginians who speak wistfully of the hot dogs of their youth, and complain that they can't find a decent hot dog wherever they live now. According to Google, West Virginians search for the term 'hot dog' on Google more than residents of any other state."
The one sure thing when it comes to hot dog toppings is that West Virginians can look forward to and enjoy a slaw dog when they get home.
— Contact Kassidy Brown at kbrown@bdtonline.com.
