West Virginia, You Slaw Me.

West Virgina Slaw Map

I feel your pain: You’re driving through the glorious Mountain State of West Virginia, and you ask yourself: If I stop for a hot dog, will they offer slaw as a topping, or look at me funny if I ask for it?

Wonder no longer: Thanks to the people at Strange Maps blog, this color-coded display will tell you what hot dog joints (HDJ) in which counties offer slaw, usually offer slaw, or don’t offer it at all. Apparently, if you’re a slaw-lover, it’s best to stay in the central, pastel green part of the state, while avoiding the extreme red north and northeast counties of Hancock, Brooke, Jefferson, Berkeley, and the like.

If you’re not from West Virginny, though, right now you’re probably thinking, Slaw? You mean, cole slaw? On a hot dog?

No jokes, folks. According to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, there’s a definite and longstanding

Southern preference for coleslaw as a hot dog topping (imaginatively dubbed ‘dragged through the garden’). This also happens to be an essential ingredient of the West Virginia Hot Dog (WVHD), as described by wvhotdogs.com: “A true WVHD is a heavenly creation that begins with a wiener on a bun. Add mustard, a chili-like sauce and top it off with coleslaw and chopped onions (…) Different parts of West Virginia have variations on the theme but the common elements are sweet, creamy coleslaw and chili. Anything else is just not a true WVHD!”

Gettin’ hungry just reading it. Road trip, anybody?

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2 comments ↓

#1 sirensongs on 01.14.09 at 10:40 am

“Dragged thru the garden”: My people (southerners)do have a way with words. “That coffee’s so old it’s fixin ta take legs an walk.”

I love maps, esp. weird ones.
check this out
http://animalreviews.zelica.net/reviews.htm
My favourite was their review of “Zebra,” which I can’t find now.

#2 Johnnie on 01.15.09 at 11:00 pm

Slaw dog millionaire!

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