el crispito

I don't know if the particular style Alberto spoke of is limited to Guadalajara, as some culinary items are, or if it's common throughout all of Mexico. The longer I live here, the more it seems like there is nothing that is common throughout all of Mexico. Like every burg in Germany having it's own style of sausage, or every cow town in India having its own recipe for dal, I suspect there are regional variations on hot dogs all over Mexico.

Many readers in California have seen the typical late-night Mexican hot dog stand on their local streets, where they're frying up dozens of dogs, each wrapped in a slice of bacon. Those are typical of the Baja Californias, although you'll find them all throughout Mexico. For example, there's a popular cart that fixes those at the corner of Prisciliano Sánchez and Colón in front of the 7-11, but that's not what he was talking about.

Of course there are several variations on hot dogs throughout the United States, and on occasion, I'll top the tofu dogs in chili, serve them with tomatoes, onions and chiles. Yet that day, we were doing the casual mustard and ketchup thing.

Here, the hot dog is a very elaborate affair. They start with the buns, which are called medias noches here. Then they smear some crema on the bun (crema is not the same as sour cream but that is worth an entry of its own), put the hot dog on it, then add mustard, ketchup, onions (sometimes fried), tomatoes, chiles, diced pineapple and then slices of panela cheese. Some people like to add canned, sliced mushrooms.

If this sounds too daunting to try at home on your own, you can try an approximation at Pink's of Hollywood (709 N. La Brea Blvd., Su-Th 9:30 am to 2:30 am, F-Sa 9:30 am to 3:00 am), the famous hot dog stand. Their Guadalajara Dog consists of a hot dog with relish, onions, tomatoes, and sour cream. They added it to their official menu when they found their cooks (of Mexican origin, of course) eating this particular combination during their breaks. I suspect that many Mexicans on this side of the border would shudder about their using sour cream and relish, but hey, when you're far from home, you have to adapt to local ingredients.