Vegetarian Halifax Donairs (TVP)

  

Yeah, I've had a vegetarian donair before. I used to work in a pizza shop and make them, actually. We did things a little differently there... putting hotdogs on our pizzas, for example. Instead of pita bread, our donair meat was wrapped in pizza dough with onions, pepperoni and cheese and baked in the oven. Then it was placed in a shallow bowl where it went swimming in sweet donair sauce, or alternatively, our spicy sweet pizza sauce. Then it was sprinkled with tomatoes and the controversial lettuce. Or you could get the vegetarian donair; same deal, only there were onions, mushrooms, green peppers and tomatoes baked in the pizza dough and topped with the sauce. Basically, everything we could round up from the pizza bar. It was yummy, but it lacked that spicy element that a true donair always delivers. A good donair, like a good sausage or a good burger, is something vegetarians still pine over, though they will never admit it. You simply cannot make these items meatless without taking away their souls. Or can you?

This is TVP, or, textured vegetable protein. It is a staple of the vegetarian diet, as it is a high fiber, high protein meat substitute made out of soy flour. And once hydrated, it will remind you a lot of ground beef. You'll see it sold as "Veggie Ground Round" in the tofu section of your grocery store, pre-hydrated for you and available in flavours such as Mexican or Italian. Just dump it in a pot of chili or spaghetti sauce, and I swear people will be fooled. Since it is cheaper to buy it in dry bulk bin form, I decided it was time I experimented with this staple food from scratch. Take out the middle man! This way, you can mimic any kind of spiced meat by simply adding to your TVP the spice blend you would normally add to ground meat. Chorizo? Breakfast sausage? Your hometown local sausage? I'm sure they are all possible. But I thought my first experiment ought to be the honourable Halifax donair. The spice blend for which is easy enough to find online.

TVP is easy to re-hydrate. Take one cup of it and mix it with a cup of boiling water and a pinch of salt and let it hang out for 10 minutes. Then squeeze the extra water of out it. Voila! You are done. Then just add the spices and let it chill out in the fridge for a bit. I left it in there overnight because I made it a day ahead of time, but I'm sure you could even use it immediately and it would be ok.

The tricky part of this recipe is the donair sauce. I used to make it when I was a pizza cook, and it was tricky then. All you need is evaporated milk, white sugar, and white vinegar. Oh, and some garlic powder. The easy part is dissolving the sugar in the milk. The tricky part is pouring the vinegar into the milk so that it curdles and thickens evenly. So often, inexperienced cooks would produce thin donair sauce. I've heard the debate. Some people say you dump in the vinegar and whisk it ferociously. Other say you slowly add the vinegar and carefully stir the mixture in a gradual bottom to top motion. I was trained to do the latter, but it doesn't always work! There are still others who cheat by using condensed milk, but this isn't correct. My only advice to you is good luck, and make a large quantity because the desired effect seems to be more easily achieved this way.  In this case, my donair sauce turned out too thin. But the flavour was spot on, so I didn't mind.

I beat up an egg and added it to my TVP before cooking it. I don't think this is necessary, if you have an aversion to eggs, but I would do it again. It just makes the TVP kinda stick together a bit. But don't expect to be able to make paddies out of TVP, especially ones thin enough to qualify as donair "meat" because it's just too crumbly. The closest approximation you could make is probably a meat loaf burger or a sloppy joe. That actually sounds pretty good.....

 

There is nothing to this! Composition is: pita bread, filled with cooked TVP, diced tomatoes, diced onions and LOTS of donair sauce. Done deal. But how does it taste? Well, I'm not going to pretend that the donair meat texture is there, but as for the flavour it's spot on. Without the grease. But don't worry, the sticky hands and spicy donair burps are still part of the experience!

TVP Donair Meat (will feed one or two people):

1 cup dry TVP
1 cup boiling water
pinch of salt

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground oregano
1 tsp all-purpose flour (or use breadcrumbs)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 egg (optional)

Donair Sauce:
1 (370 ml) can evaporated milk
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup white vinegar

Also:
diced tomato
diced white onion

Directions:

Combine first three ingredients and let sit for 10 minutes.
Then squeeze water out of TVP.
Add spices and flour.
Let sit in fridge to marinate.

In a bowl, combine evaporated milk, garlic powder, and sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Slowly pour in the vinegar, stirring slowly in a bottom to top motion so that it becomes uniformly thick.

*You might benefit from doubling this recipe, as larger amounts of vinegar are easier to deal with.
Chill sauce.

Mix in a beaten egg with TVP. Cook it in a lightly oiled frying pan until golden.
Warm pitas in microwave or on the stove. Fill with TVP mixture.
Top with diced tomatoes and onions.
Drench with donair sauce.

Jonas Restaurant

Ever since I moved downtown, and just a block and a few flights up, from Jonas Restaurant I've been meaning to eat here. It has taken me over a year to accomplish this, however, as the restaurant is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and between 2-5pm on the other days, making it inconvenient for my particular lifestyle of eating between lunch and supper on weekdays. It's also difficult to convince people on a Tuesday night that they should "do Hungarian". I would easily ask someone if they wanted to do chinese, sushi or Indian. Hell, it would be easier to ask someone out for Ethiopian. But most people don't know a lot about Hungarian food. When I was working graveyard security by my lonesome, I had nothing better to do than research every cuisine known to mankind. This was a cuisine I wanted to acquaint myself with.

I have a friend who likes to occasionally take herself out on dates. She highly recommended it, so I took her advice and ventured solo into the little neighbourhood Hungarian restaurant. To my delight, it was completely empty. I know it has a bit of a loyal following, despite its lackluster location, so I was not perturbed at all by the lack of customers so early in the evening. There was tradtional/folk/classical Hungarian music playing, and quaint little artifacts on the walls, like clothing, plates and pictures. The lighting was fairly dim, and it felt peaceful.

My waiter was a young guy, and he was relatively attentive, and helpful when asked. However, I got my bread with a little bowl of hot peppers and no explanation. I thought, "Maybe Hungarian people eat their bread and butter with hot peppers" so I put a pepper on my bread and ate it. My mouth was burning a little uncomfortably, and when my waiter returned I asked him what was up with the peppers and bread? He then explained that the peppers were not for the bread, but rather to add some heat to the food if desired. So I felt a little silly. The restaurant is licensed, but the selection is limited. For beer there was Traditional (I'm assuming Big Rock), Kokanee, Pilsner Urquell and Lowenbrau, and I was happy to order a Lowenbrau. There are three red wines and two whites, which, I later overheard, are all Hungarian wines. I ordered the Bean Goulash to start.

I realized I had never actually eaten goulash, only read about it, because I had no idea how good it tastes! It is very different from the dreaded American Goulash with the tomatoes, ground beef and elbow macaroni. This version has beans and stewed chunks of beef in a base presumably tomato based and thickened and flavoured with paprika, and a dollop of sour cream. My first spoonful was an indication of the general quality of the food here... good things to come!

There are many interesting things on the menu, such as cabbage rolls, pork schnitzel, breaded catfish, beef stew and breaded cheese. There are also daily specials. Today was something to do with chicken livers, and I'm just not ready for that. I will have to go on a Thursday when it is creamed lentils and roasted sausage. But for today, I went with the entree that has fascinated me ever since I started learning about Hungarian food: Chicken Paprikash. This is, as the name reveals, chicken in a paprika sauce. I made it once, from a recipe I found online and it was a hit. But I wanted to know what it was like when served up by an authentic home-style Hungarian joint.

All of the entrees come in a small or regular size. This is a trick. I will always choose a regular size when my other options are small or large. The small may be too small, and the large may be too large. But the regular here is plenty of food! The large regular Chicken Paprikash is $16 and I couldn't finish it. But it was lovely. Chicken thighs are served in irregular bite sized pieces, cooked perfectly tender and moist in a paprika sauce topped with a dollop of sour cream. It is served with a generous portion of dumplings, which I was a little wary about because I think dumplings are something you only like because you grew up on them. But I was impressed by the small spaetzle-like dumplings as I mixed them around with the sauce. When I made this dish at home, I left the chicken thighs whole, and made big starchy dumplings that nobody liked. If you google "chicken paprikash with dumplings" you will see all kinds of variations, but I think Jonas does it right. They also serve a Mushroom Paprikash, which the vegetarian in me would enjoy even more! This cuisine could very well grow to be a European love of mine, along with German cuisine. It took me a long time to try Jonas Restaurant, but I will definitely be going back.

As I left, an old couple made the same mistake I did with the hot peppers. But as the old man took his first bite of potato, I overheard him say, despite still struggling with a burning palate, "Take a bite of those potatoes. They are simply wonderful!"

Jonas Restaurant
937 6 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
403-262-3302
http://www.jonasrestaurant.homestead.com

The Big Cheese

We were all excited when the facade of a poutinerie came to replace the old Nelly's on 17th SW. Calgary needed a poutinerie, one just blocks away from Tubby Dog, to help soak up all that 17th Avenue booze. There may be a few decent places to find poutine in this city, but there is something admirable about a place that serves poutine exclusively. I don't claim to be a poutine connoisseur. I've only had one poutine in Montreal, and it was terrible. It was at the cheap cafe in Casino Montreal where every meal will make you want to cry because the food is so bad. So when I got to Ottawa I had a poutine at a diner, on the logic that Ottawa was close enough to Quebec to still have good poutines. It was okay. I still don't know if I've ever experienced a "squeaky" cheese curd. And I've been told that I would know if I ever experienced a "squeaky" cheese curd. Whatever that means...

When it comes to poutines I am a product of my environment. To me, there is nothing more satisfying than a Halifax pizza shop poutine, which is a poutine travesty if you are serious about these things. Cheap frozen french fries, topped with shredded mozzarella cheese and swimming in a light beef gravy. Halifax poutines commonly come in varieties like Greek (feta cheese), Italian (meat sauce), Donair, Pepperoni, and Stuffed (stovetop stuffing). The best part about Halifax poutines is that you can get them delivered to your door up until 4am. They are immensely satisfying. But back to Calgary....

It is hard to conduct poutine research because of the ridiculous calories involved. Even just reviewing one place is tough, because I felt like I should sample more than one poutine in order to give a fair evaluation. The Big Cheese has lots of variety! At the very top of this blog is a picture of the traditional poutine which I had a few weeks ago. The other day I ordered two small poutines to go, so keep in mind the pictures were taken after walking home with them. They come in cardboard boxes, which is environmentally friendly, I guess. Pictured above is the Peppercorn Beef Poutine: shaved AAA beef, sauteed mushrooms, and peppercorn gravy, with the obvious cheese curds and fries. This was good. I could do without the beef, which didn't scream quality to me, but the peppercorn gravy was nice. I think my poutine had sweet caramelized onions in it too. The cheese had melted by the time I got home, but it was still alright.

This is the Scottish Curry poutine, with chicken breast and peas. I didn't enjoy this one so much, as the sauce was too sweet for my liking. I like my curry spicy, not sweet and mild.

Other poutines available include: Philly Cheese Steak, Chili, Donair, Loaded Veggie (haven't tried the vegetarian gravy yet), Buffalo Chicken, Veggie Nacho, Cowtown (BBQ beef) and Mucho Italiano. Alas, no Greek or Stovetop. I actually saw them taking whole potatoes and slicing them into french fries in the back, which is always a good sign. Early reviews of this place complained that the fries were underdone, but that was probably an early kink they've since ironed out. Or perhaps it may occur during peak hours. I do most of my eating on weekdays between lunch and dinner, so I always miss the rushes. Is the gravy good? I liked it. It is a little milder than some gravies, but I would only complain that there isn't enough of it. Remember, I'm used to my french fries swimming in gravy in a styrofoam container from a pizza shop.Do the cheese curds squeak? I didn't hear them. How much is a poutine? Between 6-10 dollars, depending on whether you get a small or a large and whether you pack on the meat. I think I'll be sticking to the basics. But regardless, business seems to be good, and a niche is being filled. Try it when you're drunk!

The Big Cheese
738 17 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
http://www.mybigcheese.com

JagerTofu

  

One of my more outlandish food hobbies is that of adapting German meat 'n' potato dishes to tofu. I'm not sure how this complex originated, but my love of German food may extend back to my my travels in Germany at the tender age of 17, where I ate countless schnitzel sandwiches. But more likely it comes from growing up in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. The town was established in 1753, after the British eradicated the hundred year old Acadian/Mi'kmaq settlement in the area and brought in a whole bunch of "Foreign Protestants" from the bordering areas of France, Switzerland and Germany. As an intact example of "planned British colonial settlement", Lunenburg was declared a ... deep breath.... United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site in 1995. All of this I learned just now from Wikipedia. Neat, eh? Click on the link and look at the pretty picture.Aww.... home. Anyways, as well as having lots of cool architecture and fishin' boats, the Lunenburg area has two sourkraut factories, and its own unique "Lunenburg sausage" and "Lunenburg (meat) pudding" which you can find at some local restaurants and grocery stores as far as Halifax. There is a German restaurant in a very unlikely spot on the old highway between Mahone Bay and Lunenburg that I just fell in love with as a teenager. This is what has inspired me to make my own spaetzle and buy big cartons of sourkraut and adapt German dishes to tofu.

When you "adapt" a recipe, it isn't exactly creating your own recipe, but at the same time it kind of makes it yours. I certainly didn't invent Jagerschnitzel, nor am I the first person to think about making tofu schnitzel, but to my knowledge, I am the only person to combine the two. And when you come up with your own recipe, even if it isn't 100% original, or is partially adapted, you still have the right to prance around your house shouting "I am so awesome, I am so awesome!"

Now you're wondering if I really did that.

My last visit to Halifax, I enjoyed the Jagerschnitzel served at the Colby Ale House in Cole Harbour. Ever since, I've been wanting to re-create that lovely sauce and slather it on some tofu schnitzel. I had made tofu schnitzel a few times already, but didn't really know what to do with it other than splash around with some mushroom gravy. Jager sauce is also a mushroom based sauce, and no.... I've explained this countless times already, it doesn't have anything to do with Jagermeister. That would be disgusting. "Jager" simply means "hunter" in German. So this is "Hunter Sauce", if you prefer. And it is awesome.      

I browned some onions and mushrooms in a metal skillet. I added a few drops of liquid smoke, since some recipes seem to like bacon. I then deglazed the pan with a splash of Brandy. If you plan on doing this, remember that 80 proof alcohol is flammable, and should be used with caution. Take the pan off the element and hold away from you. It has never flamed up on me before, but you see it all the time on the Food Network. After the splash of Brandy, (which is actually optional but I love cooking with it), I splashed in some red wine. When you "deglaze", you are removing the caramelized food from the bottom of your frying pan and incorporating it in your soon-to-be-sauce. That's where the flavour comes from. 

And the booze helps with that too. So you should stir things up a bit, while you let some of the booze simmer off. Then it's time to add equal parts cream and beef broth. Stir to mix and let it simmer for a couple more minutes before adding a pinch of paprika and a pinch of nutmeg, as well as some salt and pepper. It's okay to play the saucier and take little tastes and nod your approval. Just don't reuse your tasting utensil if you have guests, as some people don't want your cooties or particular strands of bacterium (it's okay if they're not looking).  I didn't follow a particular recipe, but browsed a few versions before settling on certain aspects of each one that were to my liking. That's what makes this MY recipe - sorta. Some recipes called for a roux, as if making a gravy, but I decided to just let it simmer down to a desired thickness.

The tofu schnitzel is easy enough, but let me quickly say a few things about tofu. 1) Freeze it - not only can you keep lots of tofu on hand, but freezing changes the texture to make it seem more "meaty". 2) Squeeze it - after the tofu is thawed, you should squeeze it over the sink to get rid of excess water. I'm sure you've been told time and time again that you should press your tofu between two plates with weights and paper towel, or some other elaborate contraption, but really, you just need to give it a squeeze. Be gentle, of course; you want your tofu to keep its shape. 3) For tofu "steak" dishes, as I call them (and you will see a lot of them on my blog) you want to slice your tofu to achieve the longest widest cut possible, but don't make it too thick. Nobody wants an overpowering taste of soy curd, not even soy curd enthusiasts. Mmmm... soy curd.

  You can further press some water out of each tofu steak, being even more careful not to destroy it. Keep your unused tofu in a tupperware in your fridge, submerged in water that you aspire to change daily. Dredge each steak in flour, coat in beaten egg gunk, and then press each side, including the edges if you're diligent, into a mixture of breadcrumbs, thyme, sage, salt and pepper. Simply fry these up, as shown above. Now they are ready to be topped with the delicious Jager sauce, and garnished with fresh parsley. I served mine with some simple red potatoes, boiled and slightly crushed. But any kind of potato will do, as well as spaetzle or even pasta I suppose.

JagerTofu

1 or half a block tofu, pressed and cut into steaks
1-2 eggs, beaten
flour, spread out on plate
breadcrumbs, spread out on a plate
thyme, sage, salt and pepper... a pinch of each

3/4 cup onion, diced

1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms

Liquid smoke, a few drops

Brandy, splash of (optional)

1/3 cup red wine - or whatever looks good

1 cup beef broth
1 cup cream
generous pinch paprika and nutmeg
salt and pepper, to taste
parsley

1) Dredge tofu steaks in flour, then beaten eggs, then breadcrumb mixture. Fry on both sides until golden brown. Keep warm.

2) Sautee mushrooms and onions in a metal skillet. Add a few drops of liquid smoke if you wish.

3) When vegetables are browned, deglaze pan with brandy, or skip the brandy and go straight to the wine.

4) After most of the booze has simmered away, add the broth and cream. Stir and let simmer for a couple minutes.

5) Add the paprika, nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste.

6) Simmer until desired thickness is achieved. (My sauce is too thick).

7) Serve the tofu, topped with this Jager sauce, and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

Big John's Pizza and Donairs

*Make sure to check out my current blog Eat This Town!

 Okay, this is nothing flashy and it won't blow your mind. I was just getting cabin fever after being off work for a week. I was feeling a little sad and wanted some back-home comfort food. East coasters LOVE garlic fingers. It is a fact. Garlic fingers are unique to the east coast of Canada, apparently being invented by a chain of restaurants called Pizza Delight. Basically they start out just like a pizza, but instead of pizza sauce, garlic butter is slathered all over the pizza base. Then a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and topped with mozzarella. They come out of the oven along with the pizzas, only they are cut into strips. Most importantly, they are served with pizza sauce or donair sauce. To all you Calgarians, and any Canadians west of the Maritimes, please take note: DONAIR SAUCE. You know when you go to get a "donair" and you are given the option of "the sweet sauce". Yeah, that's donair sauce. There is no other donair sauce. Tzatziki goes on a souvlaki. Garlic sauce goes on a shawarma. And donair sauce goes on a donair.

If you are in the east coast and you ask for any other sauce besides donair sauce on your donair, it is like asking for ketchup on a Chicago hot dog. You will be met with raised eyebrows of suspicion and scorn. You may opt out of the onions or tomatoes on your donair, or perhaps add pepperoni or cheese, but otherwise a donair is a donair and does NOT include typical sauces or toppings associated with middle eastern snacks. No pickled anything, and NEVER hot sauce or tzatziki. (If you aren't in the know, donairs were invented in Halifax, so we are kinda sorta the authority on the subject). And forget insisting that the best donair you've ever had was in Montreal, Turkey, or anywhere else off-continent. You had a "doner kebab", not a donair. And while the "doner kebab" is the grandfather of the donair, the young rebellious donair ran away from home a long time ago and didn't come back. What does this have to do with my garlic finger craving? Well... any east coaster will tell you that it is exceptionally difficult, and maybe impossible, to find real donairs and garlic fingers in the west. However, I got tipped off when I arrived here that there is a pizza joint in town that does a decent job of making said items. The place is Big John's, and here are their garlic fingers:

  

Just like back home.... except they could be greasier. My fondest garlic finger memories are drunken nights in the country when someone would say the magic word: "Garlic Fingers!" and we'd order a big sloppy 18 inch monstrosity from some sketchy little pizza joint in the sticks and eat every little morsel in silence, donair sauce dripping everywhere.  I could personally use two or three cups of donair sauce for dipping, but I had to get by on one. 

Since I'm being bad this week I decided it might be a good time to try Big John's donair pizza as well. A few months ago, I figured that if Big John's serves up authentic garlic fingers and donair sauce, then they probably have pretty decent donairs too. I was right:

 So if they have decent donairs, then they ought to have a decent donair pizza, right? It's not bad. They do it right: donair meat under the cheese, with tomatoes, onions and parsley on top. Donair sauce is served on the side, which is meant to be poured over top. Where I used to work we put the onions under the donair meat and cheese. The sauce was poured directly on top when the pie was fresh out of the oven, and then adorned with tomatoes.  But these are just details. My only complaint is that there could have been MORE MEAT. A donair pizza, like a donair, should be a bit of a monster. Oh well.

The style of pizza at Big John's also reminds me of back home. The crust, composition, pricing, menu layout and sizing... it all screams East Coast to me. I'm not saying it's anything special, but sometimes I want a standard pizza, and not a Calgary pizza thick with toppings and cheese. Curiosity got the better of me and I asked the friendly delivery guy if the owner (he was the owner) had ever lived in the East Coast. He smiled and informed me that the previous owner who established the shop reigned from Newfoundland, and so all the recipes are the originals brought over from the Rock. That explains it! He told me it was difficult to replicate the recipes because Calgary has hard water, but he was thankful for the many Newfies and Maritimers who frequent  his shop to grab a taste of back home. As I said, East Coasters LOVE their garlic fingers.

In the near future I will be blogging a comprehensive report on Calgary "Greek-style" pizza, based on all the yummy research I've been doing. Big John's is in a different category so I am giving it a review of its own. If you are looking for a good Halifax Donair, look no further!

  

Big John's Pizza and Donair
1403 8 St. SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 229-0999
Menu Available on Urbanspoon

Tubby Dog

This past little while I have mainly been couch-ridden, with an uncooperative knee. The doc says I can't work and I really shouldn't be walking so I've been watching lots of movies and eating whatever food I can get my hands on: pizza delivery, popcorn, brownies and popsicles. My friend Kevin has been quite helpful, taking me to vote, returning my movies, and especially bringing me Tubby Dog! I had always wanted to try Tubby Dog but I haven't been able to justify the indulgence, given my paradoxical vegetarianism and burger questing. But when I am sickly or gimply, I want nothing more than to eat junk, and lots of it. So when he called me from Tubby Dog and asked what kind of hot dog I wanted, I said "I want TWO !"

Here is an inside look at my thought process. Many people have told me it's frustrating to order food with me, because I keep changing my mind and come up with complicated and time-consuming orders. This is true. I want to try everything, and I am always masterminding the most efficient method to maximize my sampling and satisfaction. When I try a new hamburger or pizza place I usually keep my first experience simple. A cheese or 2 topping pizza. A modest hamburger. When it comes to hot dogs, I think the simple sensation of meat and bun is enough, and the best hot dogs are cooked on a stick over an open flame. Then again, there are the delights of the regional hot dog, and eating it exactly how the locals do - which in Chicago is: a Vienna Beef weiner on a poppyseed bun with neon green relish, diced onion, pickle spears, tomato slices, sport peppers, mustard and celery salt. NO KETCHUP. EVER. That's just the way it is...

Finally, you have places like Tubby Dog which rely on their plethora of interesting toppings as their claim to fame. So I wanted something basic AND I wanted to push the limits. The limit, at Tubby Dog, is Sherman's Ultimate Gripper which features: a bacon-wrapped, deep fried dog, topped with ham, chili, cheese, mustard, bacon, hot peppers, onions and a fried egg. So I was going to get that, but without the ham and fried egg. Not a big fan of fried eggs on top of unrelated structures, and ham on a hot dog wrapped in bacon seems redundant (I realize you pork enthusiasts are booing).. But then I realized I could just get the Tubby Dog: bacon, onions, cheese, chili, mustard, and ask for a bacon wrapped hot dog. I've never had a bacon wrapped hot dog, so it seemed like the right thing to do while I have a green light for bacon.

I suppose the usual reaction to one's first Tubby Dog would be just like mine; You look down at your hot dog  for a little while, trying to figure how the hell you're going to eat it. Truth is, you could use a fork and knife but it is much more satisfactory to just get your hands dirty. I was suprized at how tasty the chili was, and the bacon topping really added to this pleasure. The hot dog component was, as you may have guessed, just a hot dog.... but the whole package was tasty stuff, even for a minimalist like me. However, I found the bacon wrapping a little chewy, which at times intervened with efficient biting technique. It doesn't add anything, in my opinion, unless you are trying to add calories, or you happen to have a bacon tattoo, bacon engagement ring, or have ever made a bacon weave.

Next up was my attempt for something a little more basic, but as you can see, this is still a monster! Kevin told me he didn't think I would finish both hot dogs, but I cheated by making this a Jr. Dog. At Tubby Dog you can get any dog on the classic 1/3 lb dog, a junior (re: normal) dog, a turkey dog, an all beef dog, a Ukrainian sausage or even a veggie dog (yay!). This hot dog is called The Cheetah and it features sourkraut, cheese, mustard and relish. Other than maybe being a little too heavy on the sourkraut, this was a decent hot dog. If I could have fit a third hot dog into a separate compartment of my stomach, maybe I would have ventured to try one of the more unique hot dog offerings, such as the PBJ (peanut butter and jelly with Captain Crunch cereal), or the Sumo (Japanese mayo, pickled ginger, wasabi, toasted sesame seeds, seasoned seaweed). They also have specials that aren't on the regular menu, like the pizza dog. There are also various types of fries for your side, if you wish. Tubby Dog is licensed, open late, and apparently they often have live bands playing raunchy punk rock shows. Though I enjoyed my hot dogs, and the chili was tasty, a purist like me would prefer a hot dog from one of our many street vendors. 

Tubby Dog

1022 17 Ave SW
Calgary, AB
(403) 244-0694

http://www.tubbydog.com