Food Debate: Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich?

- Idea inspiration from Astana's Debate Night series.

Ah yes, one of the most classical food debates known to humanity. The argument is popular, and we still have not been able to come to an agreement. So, I thought I should bring it to life on JetPunk and see what the community thinks about it.

Firstly, let's list the facts.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a sandwich is defined as "An article of food for a light meal or snack, composed of two thin slices of bread, usually buttered, with a savoury (originally spec. meat, esp. beef or ham) or other filling."

Also mentioned is "Occasionally with only one slice of bread, as in open sandwich or open-faced sandwich, or with biscuits, sliced buns, or cake."

So, Oxford includes one of the main components of a hot dog: the bun. The bun of a hot dog should be one slice of bread, sliced down the middle so the meat (hot dog) can fit in easily. A hot dog is defined as "A frankfurter, especially one served hot in a long, soft roll and topped with various condiments." The bun is defined as needing to be a "long, soft roll" which it always is. So, so far, a hot dog is by definition a sandwich, as it meets all of these requirements.

However, by this logic, so many different things could be a sandwich. By simply putting a steak between two tortillas, you could call that a sandwich. But this goes beyond the rationality of what a sandwich is, stretching the boundaries too far. Yes, many of you would say that a steak and two tortillas would be a sandwich, and that is a reasonable argument. Technically it is a sandwich according to Oxford themselves. So, the true argument many people have is that a hot dog should be a separate category.

Said above and quoted by Oxford is that there can be many different types of sandwiches depending on the bread. Focusing on hot dogs, it can be classified as an open-faced sandwich, since it only consists of one piece of sliced bread. It is still a sandwich, but simply a different category. Every sandwich could belong to a completely unique category, but grouping foods is a better option.

What mainly makes a hot dog different is the bread used. A sandwich is traditionally considered to be used with sliced bread. However, a hot dog replaces this with a half-sliced bun. A hamburger also uses buns, but they are completely separated and used in the same way as sliced bread would be used. This makes the bread "special" in the sense that it is not traditional for a sandwich. Is this enough to sway your opinion? Well, there's even more.

When you think of "sandwich", what comes to mind? Is it a hot dog? Probably not. When you Google 'sandwich' and go to images, what comes up? Is it a hot dog? Not one. Every image will be the traditional 'sliced bread with meats and veggies' sandwich. The hot dog is not what you think of when you want a 'sandwich'. However, again, by definition, it can be considered as one. Is Oxford enough to sway your opinion? That's up to you. Are you more convinced by definitions or by traditional standards?

My opinion is: hot dogs are a separated category of sandwich. I think that they are sandwiches, but not your basic, traditional sandwiches. They can be classified as their own category since there is so much that makes them unique, unlike many other actual sandwiches.

So, my fabulous JetPunk community, what do you think? Thank you for reading, and please be civil in the comments. This is a debate, but not anything political (I hope). Let's not ruin each other's dreams.