Rendell: A Hot Dog Is A Sandwich
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Former Governor of Pennsylvania Ed Rendell attempted to solve one of the more pressing matters in American culture today when he declared the hot dog is, indeed, a sandwich.
During a debate on the issue with Rich Zeoli on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Rendell laid out his case to place the hot dog, along with the hoagie and cheesesteak, in the vanguard of sandwiches.
"It's got bread...Would you put a hoagie in the sandwich category? What I would think is the hot dog, the cheese steak, the hoagie, they're in the elite sandwich category...If you eat a hot dog without the bun, it's not a sandwich, obviously. But if you use the bun, I think that it's just a different type of sandwich, but it's still a sandwich. The bread to me would be the key."
Listen to the full podcast here...
He refuted the argument that a sandwich must have the word 'sandwich' in it's official title to meet the steep requirements of the classification.
"Asking for a cheesesteak is shorthand. You don't go to a baseball game and ask for a hot dog on a bun, you just assume you're going to get the bun. This is an issue that may never be solved."
Rendell also noted the unfortunate incident in the Summer of 2004 when then Presidential candidate John Kerry attempted to order a cheesesteak with Swiss, lettuce, and tomato during a campaign stop in Philadelphia.
"That was an example of bad preparation, bad staff work. You don't order Swiss cheese on a cheese steak. In fact, I'm a believer that you've got to have cheez whiz. Everything else is not a true cheesesteak. I know some people say provolone or American cheese, it's got to be the whiz, because only the whiz gets into the nooks and crannies of the meat."