It's been a little while since I posted but the tour has continued. This is a very busy time of the year for me making it hard to find time for far-flung visits and lengthy posts. But this soon shall pass!
I have finally had some "sport peppers". I ordered some direct from Chicago. I could hardly wait to discover just what makes this pepper the pepper of choice for the Chicago dog. My conclusion is that it is simple ignorance. Give me a good southern pepper any day! The "sport pepper" is a tough skinned very chewy pepper with an unremarkable taste. Really... these things are tough! Why would anyone want one?
I talked with Anthony Tortomaci, the owner of Tony's Hot Dogs in Hoover. He serves a Chicago dog and used to use "sport peppers" but found that no one was eating them. They all went in the garbage. He decided to substitute a jalapeno on his Chicago dogs and found that they were eaten. I have observed that other local "Chicago dogs" are also missing the "sport pepper". As far as I'm concerned it's no great loss. Max's, who serves a very good Chicago dog uses no peppers at all while Mike's uses sliced mild peppers without a tough skin.
So for me there will be no more wondering about the mythical sport pepper. I've tried it, don't care for it, and can't understand why anyone would want one.
Coming next: some former Chicago residents try the local Chicago dogs.
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