Argentina makes some of the greatest steaks on the planet…read more
And yet, there are times when nothing is better than an Argentine hot dog.
I am not talking about the stupid everyday hot dogs which are called panchos.
These are just like hot dogs in America. They depend on what kind of goop you put on top.
I am talking about Choripan.
If you think about how you eat an Argentine steak (with wine, gusto and reverent appreciation)
And how you eat Argentine ice cream (squeals of oooooooh!)
Choripan is right in the middle.
Half Church of Great Amazingness and Half Little Kid Fun.
* * *
We don't have Choripan in the US.
Choripan is derived from the Spanish-Catalonian hot dog tradition rather than the German frankfurters we eat in America.
In a Catalonian hot dog house, you have a choice of 8 or 10 or a dozen different kinds of hot dogs ...
Meaning 8 or 10 or a dozen different kinds of meat or flavoring right in the sausage itself.
One sausage might be made with extra liver.
One sausage might be made with lots of ground up mushroom.
Usually there is a spicy one with Mexican chiles.
Nowadays there is a vegetarian one.
The sausages all taste dramatically different from each other.
Choripans are larger than a traditional frankfurter but smaller than a knockwurst - more like a fatter version of a footlong.
They are served on a small submarine roll.
In Spain, you get a free choice of toppings.
Most Spanish will only put one or at the most two toppings on their dog,
Because they do not want to drown out the taste of the meat.
Our hot dogs are boring.
We put distraction after distraction after distraction on top to make us forget how lousy the base dog is.
* * *
Chori is widely considered to serve the best choripan in Buenos Aires.
Choripan is all they do.
There are ten choices of sausage.
They are more rigid than the Spanish on toppings.
They have figured out what topping goes best on each sausage -
and when you order your hot dog, you get the chef's choice of fixings for each one.
Believe the house.
They know what they are doing.
How are their dogs served the way they want to serve them?
ABSOLUTAMENTE MAGNIFICOS !!!!!!!!!!!!
* * *
Special Bonus Section!
Not only does Chori make its own hot dogs ...
But it also makes its own ketchup.
Once you have had Chori's ketchup,
You will never be happy with the Heinz-style American ketchup we eat at home.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Argentines have better tomatoes than we do.
But that is not the driving factor.
They have put something dark and baritone and powerful into their ketchup.
My guess is that they use balsamic vinegar rather than white vinegar as the base.
However, I also think they have seriously reconsidered the spice mix and the use of sugar in the ketchup.
Whatever, their secret is, you absolutely positively must get french fries with your choripan.
And yeah, the fries themselves are nothing special.
(I have only had really good french fries in one place in Buenos Aires, El Federal in San Telmo.)
But Chori's ketchup on even average fries turns the fries into a dish to remember forever.
Long after my hot dog was gone,
I was eating each french fry one at a time as slowly as I could.
The fries had already gotten cold but I didn't care.
The ketchup was that good.
* * *
I don't think they put nuts in the sausages at Chori.
But YOU would be nuts not to go to Chori while you are in Buenos Aires.
Hey, there are more ways to have fun than just doing the tango!
