The Hirshon Colombian Hot Dogs – Perro Caliente Colombiano

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Citizens, many of you are familiar with the glorious hot dogs that we have featured in the past here on TFD: the Coney Island dog and the Chicago dog. However, you are probably not familiar with the awesome grandeur that is the Colombian Hot Dog or Perro Caliente Colombiano!

This classic Colombian street food is a truly impressive (and to the uninitiated, truly bizarre) hot dog, boiled in a combo of Coca-Cola and water and topped with a pineapple sauce, garlic mayonnaise, mustard, a pink sauce, a green sauce, cole slaw and crushed potato chips!

Quite the combo – and quite delicious, once you get past its forbidding-looking toppings!

In case you are unaware: the proud country of Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is situated in the northwest of South America, bordered to the northwest by Panama; to the east by Venezuela and Brazil and to the south by Ecuador and Peru. It also shares maritime limits with Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Jamaica, Dominican Republic and Haiti.

The territory of what is now Colombia was originally inhabited by indigenous peoples including the Muisca, Quimbaya, and Tairona. The Spanish arrived in 1499 and initiated a period of conquest and colonization ultimately creating the Viceroyalty of New Granada, with its capital at Bogotá.

Independence from Spain was won in 1819, but by 1830 “Gran Colombia” had collapsed with the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador. What is now Colombia and Panama emerged as the Republic of New Granada. The new nation experimented with federalism as the Granadine Confederation (1858), and then the United States of Colombia (1863), before the Republic of Colombia was finally declared in 1886. Panama seceded in 1903.

Since the 1960s, the country has suffered from an asymmetric low-intensity armed conflict, which escalated in the 1990s, but then decreased from 2005 onward.

Colombia is ethnically diverse, its people descending from the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonists, Africans originally brought to the country as slaves, and 20th-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East, all contributing to a diverse cultural heritage.

This has also been influenced by Colombia’s varied geography, and the imposing landscape of the country has resulted in the development of very strong regional identities. The majority of the urban centers are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines.

Colombia’s varied cuisine is influenced by its diverse fauna and flora as well as the cultural traditions of the ethnic groups. Colombian dishes and ingredients vary widely by region.

Some of the most common ingredients are: cereals such as rice and maize; tubers such as potato and cassava; assorted legumes; meats, including beef, chicken, pork and goat; fish; and seafood. Colombia cuisine also features a variety of tropical fruits such as cape gooseberry, feijoa, arazá, dragon fruit, mangostino, granadilla, papaya, guava, mora (blackberry), lulo, soursop and passionfruit.

In Colombia, perros calientes are sold in street stands with ketchup, mustard, salsa rosada, mayonnaise, pineapple sauce, (sometimes) cheese and crumbled potato chips. Some add a cooked quail’s egg on top. In the coast, it’s common to also add some finely shredded lettuce to the bun, giving it a refreshing touch for the coast’s hot weather.

New York’s Jackson Heights area in Queens is one of the most Hispanic neighborhoods in America, with a population that’s nearly 60 percent Latino. In fact, you can take yourself on a Latino hot dog tour if you just walk down the city’s main drag, Northern Boulevard, as noted in this excellent article.

Citizens, put aside your skepticism – you must try this unique hot dog for yourselves! I’ve made a few tweaks to the recipe, including using roasted garlic in the garlic mayo and discarding the cheese – feel free to grate some on your version of the recipe if you so prefer.

Battle on – The Generalissimo

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