What is your idea of the "correct" coney dog?

I thought it might be interesting to hear what regional variations exist when it comes to making the perfect coney dog. Is ketchup allowed? Relish?

Around here, the signature coney dog is a koegel's hot dog with ground beef coney sauce, mustard and diced onions. That's it!

Using "chili sauce" is generally seen as being non-authentic. It has to be ground beef to be a "coney".

I also rarely if ever see ketchup or relish on a traditional coney, although yours truly has been known to add a little ketchup now and again.

Jeff

I thought it might be interesting to hear what regional variations exist when it comes to making the perfect coney dog. Is ketchup allowed? Relish?

Around here, the signature coney dog is a koegel's hot dog with ground beef coney sauce, mustard and diced onions. That's it!

Using "chili sauce" is generally seen as being non-authentic. It has to be ground beef to be a "coney".

I also rarely if ever see ketchup or relish on a traditional coney, although yours truly has been known to add a little ketchup now and again.

Jeff

All beef dog (my rule) + ground beef type coney sauce, and if you want it finely diced onion. I want it. To me, mustard and/or ketchup muddy the mix with the coney sauce.

Edited to add, to make it perfect, butter the bun and sprinkle with a little garlic powder then brown on a grill or under a broiler.

Must be an "east of the Mississippi" thing. I've heard of such things but have never seen one.

Mike, it's not just east of the Mississippi, it's pretty much only Michigan (though some will include Ohio). It's not even all of Michigan, only reason I know of Coney dogs is my Grand Rapids B-i-L says " in Detroit they have these 'coney dogs' "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coney_Island_hot_dog

And from Linda Stradley's website this:

Feltman's Restaurant and Pavilion - Coney Island, New York:

1867 - Charles Feltman (1841-1910), a German baker, opened up the first Coney Island hot dog stand in Brooklyn, New York. Some historical accounts say he was a butcher, but according to his great grandson, he was a baker.

According to his great grandson, Charles Robert Feltman:

In order to sell his bakery goods to the men who were building Brooklyn he offered them a hot lunch of a sausage on a bun, thus the beginning of the hot dog. His bakery was located at the corner of 6th Ave and 10th St in Brooklyn. He sold 3,684 sausages in a roll during his first year in business. He is also credited with the idea of the warm bun. I believe the fiction of him being a butcher was started by a competitor.

According to the article Coney Island: Food & Dining by Jeffrey Stanton:

In 1867 Charles Feltman owned a pie-wagon that delivered his freshly baked pies to the inns and lager-beer saloons that lined Coney Island's beaches. His clients also wanted hot sandwiches to serve to their customers. But his wagon was small and he knew that it would be hard to manage making a variety of sandwiches in a confined space. He thought that perhaps something simple like a hot sausage served on a roll might be the solution. He presented his problem to Donovan, the wheel-wright on East New York and Howard Street in Brooklyn, who had built his pie-wagon. The man saw no problem in building a tin-lined chest to keep the rolls fresh and rigging a small charcoal stove inside to boil sausages.

When the wheel-wright finished the installation they fired up the stove for a test run. Donovan thought that the sausage sandwich was a strange idea but he was willing to try it as Feltman boiled the succulent pork sausage and placed between a roll. The wheel-wright tasted the it and liked it. Thus the hot-dog was born.

The only coney dog I ever eat is from Gold Star Chili in the Cincinati area. That's Cincinati style chili (think Greek flavors, NO BEANS) on a tiny little hot dog with a ton of finely shredded cheddar cheese. I like mine with mustard, onion and hot sauce. Skyline is a little better-known outside Cincy, and it's pretty similar, but we prefer Gold Star.

[Jenise]

Must be an "east of the Mississippi" thing. I've heard of such things but have never seen one.

I'm with you. Ground beef sauce?

Must be an "east of the Mississippi" thing. I've heard of such things but have never seen one.

I'm with you. Ground beef sauce?

Chili Dog, I guess.

[Jenise]

Must be an "east of the Mississippi" thing. I've heard of such things but have never seen one.

I'm with you. Ground beef sauce?

Chili Dog, I guess.

Not quite. Dale's wiki link says, "A coney dog is not to be confused with a chili dog, a more generic chili-topped hot dog." So stop that right now.

[Jenise]

And from Linda Stradley's website this

Karen, check out Dale's wikipedia link. Hot dogs on Coney Island are one thing, but the "Coney" dog of Michigan and the ground beef sauce is a unique regional variation.

Now y'all got me craving a visit to a Cincinnati chili parlor. A 4-Way washed down with 3 coneys (cheese, chili and onion please).

[Jenise]

This thread is making me hungry.

In Minnesota, a hot dog, usually boiled or heated on a steam table, the standard hot dog bun, & a "chili"sauce. The "chili" sauce contains ground beef and has a tomato, and paprika base with a dash of chili powder added. No beans! The extras offered are yellow mustard, chopped onions and yellow/orange cheese atop it all. Ketchup on a Coney/chili dog just isn't/shouldn't be done! Almost embarrassing if you are with someone who adds ketchup! The hot dogs used here for coneys are usually skinless, but could be skin on.