{"id":1277,"date":"2018-06-12T07:45:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-12T11:45:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.summerofjim.com\/?p=1277"},"modified":"2018-06-12T07:45:49","modified_gmt":"2018-06-12T11:45:49","slug":"consider-the-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/?p=1277","title":{"rendered":"Consider THE Dog"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was born and raised in New Haven, CT; and as such, from birth I was hardwired for Pizza, or more appropriately, groomed to participate in the debate over the relative merits and ranking of New Haven\u2019s three anointed Pizza Emporiums\u2026 Pepe\u2019s, Sally\u2019s and Modern. {first small aside, many locals prefer the \u201cpurity\u201d of the variant spelling seen in Sally\u2019s & Modern\u2019s signage:\u00a0 \u201cApizza\u201d, and its pronunciation \u2013 a-beetz<\/em>}. In spite of the on going controversy over which establishment is top dog<\/em>, one thing is abundantly clear\u2026 we New Havener\u2019s point to our Pizza, as a collective {second aside, I also have a soft spot for Ernie\u2019s Pizza on Whalley Ave}, as the best in the country.\u00a0 It is a source of pride, even community & gustatory hubris.<\/p>\n

The spreading of the New Haven Pizza \u201cgospel\u201d to the balance of the American landmass can probably be best attributed to Yale University (New Haven\u2019s other<\/em> claim to fame).\u00a0 Or better put, Yale students\u2026 who since 1925 (Pepe\u2019s launch date), developed a love for Frank Pepe\u2019s iteration of the Neapolitan tomato pie.\u00a0 Cheap, tasty and addictive.\u00a0 Then (and this is the key part), B.A. in hand, or Law Degree, or whatever else<\/em>, these very same young men (women to a far lesser degree \u2018til later in the 20th<\/sup> Century), returned to their homes in Grosse Pointe, Sewickley, Lake Forest, Ladue, Shaker Heights, Spartanburg & etc. to take up positions in the banks, investment houses, law offices, medical practices & etc.; and proceeded to getting on to their chief purpose in life: ruling the universe. <\/em>Yet even in the rarified air of success and affluence, there is something of New Haven that played on their heart strings, that conjured memories of their youth\u2026 that pulled them back to that<\/em> City (and it wasn\u2019t Payne Whitney Gym or the Yale Bowl or re-visiting the classroom and the Profs)\u2026 it was the \u201csmell\u201d of Wooster Street! New Haven Pizza! It became an obsession!\u00a0 An obsession magnified by the lack of quality Pizza that was available locally in their chosen homes.<\/p>\n

Talk about something long enough in your workplace, in the boardrooms, with friends and family and the word is bound to get around.\u00a0 And it wasn\u2019t just Yale Alums who praised the quality of the New Haven \u201cHoly Trinity\u201d.\u00a0 What about all those John Harvards and Princeton Tigers who took up seats on the opposing side in the Yale Bowl?\u00a0 Where do you think those other Ivy League students (and Alums) went to eat before or after the football game? No secret here!<\/p>\n

So you can well imagine that it was just a matter of time when someone (or several people as it turns out) would look to commercially exploit this pizza \u201cobsession\u201d.\u00a0 Which is why there is a Nick\u2019s New Haven Styled Pizzeria in Boca Raton, FL; a Pete\u2019s New Haven Apizza in Washington, DC; a Salvation New Haven Styled Pizza in Austin, TX; and more \u201cwannabes\u201d too numerous to cite here. Proving once again that imitation is the greatest form of flattery.<\/p>\n

But the substance of this essay is not about pizza.\u00a0 It\u2019s about the hotdog. Our hotdog. <\/em>\u00a0You see, to the local cognoscenti there is another equally compelling story to tell.\u00a0 But unlike Wooster St., which was walking distance from the Yale Campus, the undergrads would have had to drive<\/em> to Jimmies of Savin Rock to tuck into the most splendid hotdog on the planet. And further, for the most part Jimmies catered to a seasonal summer crowd when the undergrads would have returned to their homes. Understandable then, that there would be fewer Yalies and outlanders<\/em> who would have traveled across town lines to West Haven (West Haven! God forbid!), recognized the greatness of Jimmies, and then spread the word about a \u201cdrive-in\u201d (in my days) that had all the look of common \u201cfestival\u201d and cheap amusement park dives.\u00a0 Fewer people knew about Jimmies.\u00a0 Pepe\u2019s et al.<\/em>?\u00a0 Truly great, but cosmopolitan.\u00a0 Jimmies?\u00a0 It was us!<\/p>\n

Amusement park dive? Ahhhh\u2026 looks can be deceiving.\u00a0 Particularly when you fetch the food from a counter, bring it back to your car, set up the trays of food on the hood and then have to ward off the circling seagulls from snatching an unattended,\u00a0 perfectly plump fried clam, or\u2026 God forbid\u2026 your hotdog! {third aside, somewhat longer<\/em>\u2026 there was a rustic charm to the seediness of Jimmies\u2019 parking lot.\u00a0 On a warm July Saturday evening, the parking lot would be chock-a-block packed. Folks on line to get food.\u00a0 Folks sitting in their cars eating.\u00a0 Folks standing outside<\/em> their cars eating. Cars slowly circling thru the lot looking for a space to open up.\u00a0 Music playing from car radios. Conversations, an occasional harsh word or two, laughter. \u00a0A thickness to the air.\u00a0 Humidity and a light breeze coming off the Sound carrying scents of French fries, grilled hotdogs and briny clams on the half shell. Discarded food, cups and cardboard trays littering the strips of pavement between the parked cars.\u00a0 And the ever present opportunistic seagulls waiting to participate in this outdoor feast.}<\/p>\n

In 1925 James \u201cJimmie\u201d Gagliardi opened a roadside stand near the Amusement park at Savin Rock {another brief aside, the same year that Frank Pepe \u201chung his shingle\u201d on Wooster St}.\u00a0 Gagliardi\u2019s culinary innovation was to split a hot dog to more uniformly cook the dog and speed the grilling process.\u00a0 Whether the Roessler\u2019s hotdog was used from the get-go, I can\u2019t say.\u00a0 But for sure, by the time I hit Jimmies in the mid-1950s, Roessler\u2019s of New Haven was the source for the featured hotdog, and the importance of this detail can\u2019t be exaggerated.\u00a0 There was a symbiotic relationship between grilling technique and the key source ingredient that produced a hotdog that retained a \u201ccrunch\u201d when you took a bite.\u00a0 And that light snap<\/em> survived thru a coating of mustard, relish and kraut.<\/p>\n

And also of paramount importance, the roll was perfectly suited for the finished dog. Not some thick \u201cpillow\u201d of a roll, but rather a thin layer that was slightly toasted on the grill.\u00a0 Nearly delicate! Dog placed into the bun, no major adjustment was necessary.\u00a0 The roll compressed superbly into the sides of the dog, condiments added if desired, and in all likelihood, half your first hotdog would have been polished off by the time you reached your car.<\/p>\n

By the 50s the modest stand had already seen a couple of moves, and at least one enlargement (including an inside dinning room).\u00a0 Jimmies was now in capable hands of Sal (Jimmie\u2019s son).\u00a0 The food counter was divided into three parts with independent registers\u2026 on the far left: clams on the half shell were chucked and ready for immediate consumption (as a teenager, the fresh clams were my appetizer course).\u00a0 On the far right: the station where you picked up your beverages\u2026 I loved the non-carbonated pineapple drink.\u00a0 Center stage was occupied by the grill and the place where you ordered hotdogs, French fries (none better), lobster rolls (hot & butter soaked), fried clams (divine)\u2026 and that\u2019s where my interest stopped, although I am sure other items were on the menu as well.<\/p>\n

Patrolling the grill (and the center register) on summer nights was the responsibility of Tony DeLucca.\u00a0 Whatever Sal paid Tony, it wasn\u2019t enough\u2026 it wasn\u2019t enough by miles<\/em>.\u00a0 Waiting on line to place an order at Jimmies was a form of entertainment just watching Tony ply his trade\u2026 maneuvering rows of hotdogs lined up on the grill like a Greek phalanx.\u00a0 Dogs placed on the grill by a helper, then Tony would take charge, turning the rows, then deftly slicing the dogs to their characteristic split (fancy TV chefs today would nod approvingly at his speed and accuracy), turning the rows of dogs for reverse side grilling, turning once more for exposed side grilling, then the placement of dog into roll, onto a tray, then to combine with other items ordered: fries, fried clams & etc. (picked up from frying stations behind the main grill) and added to the tray, or second tray, and then the stunning element of this experience\u2026 Tony would have calculated what you owed in his head, had the sale rung up in the register, hand out for your cash\u2026 and all the time never missing a beat with marshalling his never ending rows of hotdogs.<\/p>\n

Hard not to sound like an \u201cold fart\u201d\u2026 but although Jimmies is still in business today. \u00a0It just ain\u2019t the same.<\/em>\u00a0 Roughly in the same location. Still owned by the Gagliardi family. Few of the elements that made it an attraction for me are in play today.\u00a0 Do I miss having to navigate a path to the counter thru a dropped-food minefield of stepped-on French fries, blobs of ketchup, mustard and the like?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 How bout having to keep an eye out for the cruising seagulls overhead ready to clear their digestive tracts?\u00a0 Take pass on that, too.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Yes, I miss the smell<\/em>.\u00a0 I miss the informality and feeling of community<\/em> in a shared activity \u2013 finding a parking place, walking up to the counter, standing on line cheek to jowl with others, conversations overlapping, probably recognizing a half dozen folks, schlepping the food back to the car and eating under the stars.\u00a0 There was a wonderful consistency to the experience.\u00a0 The food was in balance within the setting. Do you really want to eat hot dogs and fried clams from a china plate?\u00a0 The cardboard container filled with fried clams (and a lemon wedge perched on top) was fine for me.<\/p>\n

The new Jimmies is now a dinning room experience.\u00a0 China and cutlery. An elaborate menu.\u00a0 Waitstaff.\u00a0 Beer and booze.\u00a0 Marvelous windows look out to the Sound.\u00a0 But where is the smell?\u00a0 Where is Tony DeLucca?<\/p>\n

Although I think the French fries are as I remember, what about the dog?<\/em>\u00a0 Aye, there is the rub.\u00a0 Roessler\u2019s is long out of business after surviving a brief revival in Norwich.\u00a0 And from what I can tell from my last visit, I think the hotdogs aren\u2019t being made on a flat top grill any more.\u00a0 My dogs looked like they had been split and made under a broiler.\u00a0 I consider this a setback on par with Pluto being declassed out of planet status.<\/p>\n

I have taken on the challenge to make \u201cTHE Hotdog.\u201d\u00a0 But let\u2019s be clear, trying to re-create the Jimmies\u2019 hotdog of yore would be like trying to re-stage the Battle of Agincourt.\u00a0 It ain\u2019t happening. My effort is simply to make an exceptional hotdog<\/em>.<\/p>\n

First, lucky for us all, there is another New Haven hotdog company making a damned fine dog:\u00a0 Hummel Bros.\u00a0 I use the \u201cbig bite\u201d size.\u00a0 Next, I have switched to the top split roll {last aside, this type of roll is called \u201cNew England\u201d style.\u00a0New England is also a designation for a style of Lobster Roll served cold, made with mayo and served with lettuce!\u00a0 It reeks of upper crust gentility and should be avoided at all costs!}. I have been very unhappy with commercial traditional side split rolls.\u00a0 Too thick.\u00a0 Top split rolls are thin, light slice-of-bread like.\u00a0 Much better for pressing into the finished dog. \u00a0Lacking a flat top grill, I have opted to cook my dogs (scored, but unsplit) on my barbeque grill.\u00a0 I have also decided to up the ante on condiments to \u201cbanquet\u201d level.\u00a0 Subtracted: mustard, relish & kraut.\u00a0 Added: shredded jack cheese, crumbled applewood smoked bacon & topped with a cup of Jim\u2019s Famous Invisible Rattlesnake Chili (8 hour, slow cooked and I have provided the recipe below).<\/p>\n

P.S. The above recipe notwithstanding, more often than not, I scarf down my dogs with just mustard and relish.\u00a0 Never been much of a sauerkraut guy.<\/p>\n

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I was born and raised in New Haven, CT; and as such, from birth I was hardwired for Pizza, or more appropriately, groomed to participate in the debate over the relative merits and ranking of New Haven\u2019s three anointed Pizza … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1277"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1279,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1277\/revisions\/1279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/summerofjim.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}