Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?
This question has sparked a debate among hundreds of friends and classmates over the years. The common staple of luncheons and grills everywhere is a difficult thing to categorize, as there are so many factors that it contains. Does the bun have to be split to be considered a sandwich? What do we consider a sandwich? Is hot dog meat even real?
To finally solve this debacle, I took to Instagram and asked my loyal followers their thoughts on the matter. After a vote that lasted 24 hours, many people were given a chance to explain their reasoning.
Today, I will be documenting the thoughts of the RIT student body and beyond.
To protect the identities of these brave souls who stepped up to this challenge, everyone mentioned in this article will be anonymous.
Out of the 87 students that voted, the majority declared that a hot dog is not a sandwich with 59 percent of the votes.
Here are the stories from both sides:
One student who voted no, had stated the following:
“I don’t consider a hot dog a sandwich but…feel as though all evidence points in the direction of it being a sandwich – because if we consider a sandwich just ingredients based in bread, that would have to include meat, no matter how specific it gets. The only real argument I can use to disprove that a hot dog is a sandwich is if we consider the angle at which the bun/bread is spread open…a sub is more encasing while a hot dog tends to rest on and above its bun.”
One student who voted yes wrote: “The fact that it is meat and condiments on a roll makes it a sandwich. Some could argue that if a hot dog is a sandwich, then a dumpling, empanada, or burrito is too, but those aren’t on rolls.”
Another student who voted no simply wrote, “IT’S VERTICAL” (yes, they did write it in all caps).
You go, anonymous student. Your passion will live on forever.
One student was quite persistent about their sandwich beliefs, telling me that “meat in between buns = sandwich. Plain and simple.”
Two separate students stated that a hot dog is not a sandwich, but a taco, due to the shape of the bun itself closely resembling a taco shell.
Another student kept their response concise: “If it was a sandwich, we would call it one.”
One student who voted yes told me word for word “a hot dog is a sandwich because of bread and meat and condiment” with no further elaboration, and with an argument like that, I don’t think you need much more.
Well, we may never find a true answer to this great question. Everyone will always have their own opinion about hot dogs, sandwiches, and even lobster rolls (one student compared it to a hot dog, stating that since the lobster dish is considered a sandwich on most menus, why shouldn’t a hot dog be?).
The one thing you can take away from all of this? Keep your friends close, and your hot dogs closer.