The hot-dog is in town, but it’s not just any old American hot dog but a well-travelled one, bringing to the city influences from all over the globe. The hot dog festival at ITC Kakatiya has something for everybody.
Those in the mood for Japanese can try the Teriyaki dog or the Oroshi dog. The latter is a crumb fried hot dog with a filling of grilled dog, pickled radish, spring onions, tempura sauce and Wasabi mayonnaise on the side. The Hollywood dog, with its bacon wrapped hot dog, grilled onion, mashed potatoes, spicy ketchup, mustard mayo and shrimp salad is for those who like extravagance. For a Middle Eastern flavour try the Tahini dog, its garlic flavoured hot dog with shredded cabbage, lettuce, parsley, tahina and labneh or yoghurt.
The idea of serving a sausage or a Frankfurter in a bun is said to have originated in Germany and was brought to America in the late Nineteenth century by a German immigrant. Since then it has joined the ranks of the hamburger, pizza or the subway sandwich and spread across the globe, modified to suit local tastes but enjoyed as a quick, easy snack.
The idea of the festival is to bring all these different versions of the famous ‘finger-food’ to Hyderabadis.
"The idea was to inculcate a global flavour to the entire festival,” says Chef P. Sekar. “The menu has the popular food as it is eaten in different parts of the world.”
When we think of the hot-dog we think of chicken sausages and pork or beef frankfurters but keeping with the rising trend of vegetarianism, the festival offers all the items on the menu in both vegetarian, vegan and non-vegetarian. While non-vegetarians can pick from chicken, tenderloin, shrimp and fish, vegetarians have the option of choosing from paneer, tofu, soy, potato, baked beans and haloumi.
According to Executive Chef Sekar, the idea was to make a dish that could be had by everybody, irrespective of religious and cultural restrictions.
Through this festival ITC Kakatiya, already well known for their Indian cuisine hopes to appeal to the younger crowd of college students and professionals who savour global food and are eager to try new flavours.
To this end, the meal also includes unlimited beer which is sure to be a crowd puller! The package is priced at Rs.999+ taxes or Rs.1500+ taxes and will be on till January 27 at Deccan Pavillion, ITC Kakatiya.
