27 March 2011

Week 31: Super Hot Dogs at the Kids' Carnaval



In the parking lot near the Kids' Carnaval, a row of hot dog vendors had set up their Chinese made vans. Each of these vans had a complete, portable kitchen and could turn any small area to a street cafe. And they all were selling the same thing, hot dogs (AH-chee DOH-gees), or "salsichas" (sawl-SEE-shahs). These little vans look a lot like the Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo. The kitchenettes have stainless steel steamers and warming trays that are heated by gas from portable tanks. I had seen set-ups like this around town on other occasions, but this was the first time I had seen about 8 vans all in the same spot.


My older sons had heard rumors of this super hot dogs from their friends at school, so we decided to try them. The basic construction of the super hot dog is put inside of a bun a salsicha and bury that hot dog in mashed potatoes, corn, and fried crispy potatoes, and then season with ketchup.

The buns and hot dogs are very different here in Brasilia than what is found in the U.S. One notable difference is that the franks are a paprika color of red-orange, which also turns the water orange when their cooked. And no matter what brand, the hot dogs are all made from chicken and all look and taste the same. The buns are not precut and are about twice as fluffy as buns sold in the U.S. Also, the buns got soggy from the potatoes and corn. Overall, I and my kids are not impressed with Brazilian hot dogs, but served with mashed potatoes, corn and crunchy potatoes is pretty tasty for street food that only costs R$2.50.

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