Cross-Border Hot Dog: How Mexico Reinvented the American Dish?

- When Benjamin Galaz was ten years old, a food vendor named Rolando Mendivil arrived in the mining town of Nacozari de Garcia in the Mexican state of Sonora and began offering a new type of hot dog sandwich. He would wrap sausages in bacon, grill them, then place them inside a "bolillo" bread similar to a baguette, adding pinto beans, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, and salsa, served with mild "guero" peppers.

Galaz was very impressed with this dish and began spending his after-school time near the vendor's cart, helping him with his work. After moving to Tucson, Arizona, he opened BK Carne Asada & Hot Dogs in 1994, being one of the first to offer the "Sonoran hot dog" in the city.

Galaz recalls that the demand was huge from the start, with some customers eating five or six pieces at a time. Today, the Sonoran hot dog has become part of Tucson's food identity.

The city has about 200 vendors specializing in it, and there is a tourist route dedicated to experiencing the most famous places that serve it. The diverse and cross-border cuisine has contributed to making Tucson the first American city to be included by UNESCO in the Creative Cities of Gastronomy network in 2015.

The sausages that later evolved into what is known as the hot dog arrived in the United States in the 19th century with German-speaking immigrants from Eastern Europe. According to food historian Bruce Kraig, vendors roamed American cities selling sausages on the streets with German spices.

This food spread quickly because it was cheap, portable, and could be eaten on the go. It also allowed new immigrants the opportunity to start businesses with limited costs.

Soon, other immigrant groups began to modify the hot dog according to their culinary traditions; Greeks added cinnamon and nutmeg flavors, while Italians used pickled vegetables known as "giardiniera." In New York, where there was a large Jewish population, beef sausages with sauerkraut became popular.

In Chicago, chili became a common topping. Thus, the hot dog became a clear example of the blending of immigrant cultures in American cuisine.

However, its spread was accompanied by a wave of xenophobia. Since the 1840s, jokes and caricatures spread baselessly claiming that German butchers used cat and dog meat in sausages.

Kraig believes that the name "hot dog" may have been partially associated with these racist stereotypes. Over time, this food associated with immigrants became an American symbol.

By the 1890s, it became familiar at baseball games. Hot dog carts became places where workers and businessmen met, making them a symbol of the idea of social equality.

Even President Franklin Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor served hot dogs to European royal guests, including King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. It is not precisely known how the hot dog made its way from the United States to Sonora, Mexico.

Theories suggest it arrived with baseball teams or traveling circus acts in the mid-20th century. By the 1970s, after adding beans, onions, and sauces, it became a popular late-night meal among university students in Sonora in Hermosillo.

The dish then returned in its Mexican form to the United States, especially Tucson. Some describe it as an ideal symbol of life on the border, a food that travels from America to Mexico, changes there, and then returns to the United States in a new form.

Development continues, as some Tucson restaurants offer double or vegetarian versions, while Mariel Figueroa, owner of Monster Sonoran Hot Dogs, has added slow-cooked Mexican "birria" and serves it in distinctive red bread. Even Galaz himself modified the original recipe he learned in childhood, reducing the sweetness of the bread and adding jalapeño sauce.

Today, he runs two restaurants and is considering expanding to Cancun, continuing the Sonoran hot dog's ongoing journey between Mexico and the United States. Galaz says about his future plans: "I am excited and almost confident that the future will be better."