Chile Dog

    There may be more than one way to skin a cat-- but I bet you there are even more ways to eat a dog. A hot dog that is. The streets of New York City provide an abundance of dirty-water dogs, served up with the classics (relish, mustard and ketchup); Chicago boasts the "dragged through the garden" variety- accompanied by celery salt and veggies, Germany has their Frankfurter and Chile has the Completo. 

     Completo, meaning "complete" or "total" is exactly that. The toppings are as strange as french fries and on occasion, mashed potatoes. The anatomy of this dirty dog starts with the basics: bun and sausage. From there it moves on to chopped tomatoes, sauerkraut, chilean spices, onion, guacamole, green sauce and mayonnaise. Different restaurants have their own twist on the Completo as you would expect- local spot Cevasco has a style "A lo Pobre" where the dog is adorned with french fries, fried onions and an egg over-easy. 

    The verdict? More delicious than it sounds. I had mine with the classic toppings (no potatoes for me) and sin mayonesa. It was a feat, and also a feast- I couldn't make it through the whole thing. The local stray dogs hang outside Completo-spots for this very reason, willing to pick up the slack of the Completo. Because while one Chile Dog may say "eat me" the other says "feed me." And I say, "Gladly." 

The Standard "Completo"

Now, that's a Chile Dog. Feelin' fine post-completo.