Moving to the US has meant having the excuse of trying loads of new foods - both of the national and local delicacy. Living in Michigan I'm spoilt with the Coney Island Hot Dog - one that has nothing to do with Coney Island in New York - the name merely refers to the origin of the hot dog and not the topping. When talking about Coney Island dogs on twitter I often get a lot of questions about it, so I though I'd dedicate a little blog post to everything about it.
The Coney is a firm fixture and favorite across south east Michigan and a variety of the dog can even be found in Ohio - often known there has the cheese chilli. But what is it? Well it's easily explained as a natural casing beef hot dog topped with an all meat, beanless chilli finished off with diced onions and mustard, and most importantly, Coneys are as messy as they are delicious, they might be cheap but they are mighty fine.
Left - Coney from Comet Burgers, Royal Oak. Right - Coney and sliders from The Telway, Madison Heights.
Come to Michigan and you'll be spoilt for choice with where to taste one, Lafayette and American Coney Islands next door to each other in Downtown Detroit always battle it out between themselves for the number one spot, but the region is full of Coney Island chains - Leos to National. But many independent burger places or diners will serve their own variety - the coney's from Telway in Madison Heights being a particular favorite of mine - plus is still has it's 50's decor which is always a win with me.
A trip to Michigan certainly wouldn't be complete until you've tried a coney dog. You can always check out my blog posts on my visit to Detroit's Lafayette Coney Island here.
How do you like your hot dogs?
How do you like your hot dogs?