There have always been certain arguments on what things are what. One such argument which many people have probably heard is whether a hotdog is a sandwich or not. The correct answer is neither of the two answers. Everyone has been glancing over one huge food with bread outer sides. Tacos, a dish with bread on three sides, exactly like hotdogs have. Here’s why hotdogs are tacos.

There are many ways to make a taco, but they all have one thing in common, the bread or tortilla. When a proper taco is made, the taco is covered by three sides of bread, just like the bread structure of a hotdog. The filling is also quite like a taco. Most tacos have the main part being a meat of some kind whether that be ground beef or fancier things like fish or cuts of pork. There is also the other vegetables and toppings like tomatoes and lettuce. Hotdogs possess the potential of all of these. There are many different kinds of franks that can be put in hotdogs, ranging from vegan style, to turkey or pure beef. They also have a wide arrangement of topping such as relish, cheese, or the many kinds of sauces.

Some people might argue that hotdogs aren’t tacos because tacos are a Mexican dish. That is true, however hotdogs aren’t normal tacos. They are American tacos. What is one of the most American things to do? Watch a good game of American football or maybe even baseball. Huge crowds of people and players on a vast open field chanting for their teams. But what is that smell? A grill with the most American tacos being made on it of course. According to the official hotdog website, hotdog.org, in 2014, 1 hotdog vendor would sell around 150 hotdogs per game or 10000-12000 per season. That is only 1 hotdog stand. Think of how many there are in one stadium. An overwhelming number of Americans eat hotdogs at ballpark games and alike.

Not only that but there is one specific day that the most hotdogs are consumed. To be specific the most American day of them all, 4^th of July. America’s birthday has an ever-increasing number of hotdogs eaten on the day with 2020 having 150 million consumed according to thehotdog.org. The ever-growing amount isn’t by a little bit either. Between the years of 2019 and 2020, the jump in consumed hotdogs at ballparks alone, was 1.1 million. Americans eat so much of this American dish that in one season of baseball, fans consumed enough hotdogs to go from Los Angeles to Chicago, nearly 2016 miles. This could surmount the biggest pyramid of Giza, 23000 times. There is no other country that consumes that number of hotdogs or even gets close to America.

The hotdogs are a sandwich argument also has their points to it. If your hotdog has maybe split the bun at the bottom then yes, it would be a sandwich. However, this is not how they are bought at ballparks. A hotdog is only a sandwich if you make it one by splitting the bun. It comes out in bun as an American taco. Calling a burger, a sandwich could play the same argument. While they have the same bread on each side, that would upset the balance, making it an American sandwich. Well, why not just call it a hotdog instead? It really comes down to personal preference. To me, defining a hotdog with its own name is a little on the blander side. While it may just be better to do such, the fact that the structure of this dish is very similar to tacos in just too good to pass up. They both follow the bread, meat, toppings so very closely to each other. They are the definition of food with bread on three sides. They vary only in the ways that the culture they stayed in made them. The Mexican culture turned it into the tacos we know and eat and the American culture turned it into its very similar dish we know and eat. While the cultures are the defining factor in how they are made, they each glisten in their own ways because of it. American tacos becoming a traditional at the ballpark or football game kind of food or with Mexican tacos becoming an easily accessible food from another tradition and culture.

There are many ways people can think of anything. While some may think some ideas are a little on the crazy side, there will always be the group that thinks that the idea isn’t crazy at all. Just like how people thought geniuses like Albert Einstein were crazy, there were some who didn’t and look how it ended up today. While people will disagree on something almost 100% of the time, it’s not a bad idea to throw an idea out there to see what happens.