Le Chien Chaud

Hot dogs and France are rarely used in the same sentence. However one French chef is making this German American standard haute cuisine.It may take some convincing but the food snobbish French may warm to this standard.

This was the subject of an article in today's New York Times Dining section. Elaine Sciolino had the lucky chance of interviewing hot dog fanatic and three star chef Yannick Alleno. Even though he creates some of the worlds' best dishes Chef Alleno prefers a New York dog above all else. He dcided to bring this love back to Paris and tweak up the recipe. The result is a gourmet version and a much tastier one. Instead of the traditional pork, he uses veal and renames the dog veau chaud or hot veal. Veal is his signature meat. He has made some amazing dishes such as his famous tete de veau. The hot dog will be in the same tradition with , delicate ground veal , held together with a gelatin as opposed to casing.it is also cooked in a vegatable broth full of savory leeks, carrots and cloves.

The dog is then served in a crusty mini whole wheat baguette and slathered with a gribiche. This is a light sauce that can be made with capers, cornichons and of course, mustard. I'm sure other variations will follow. The veau chaud could be served inside an elongated puff pastry or even grilled for a bistro dog. Whether it will be as popular as steak au poivre or crepes remains to be seen.

Veau chaud may take a while to catch on in both cities.However once it does, Americans may forget about their traditional weiner. TheFrench may take it to heart too, making it as beloved as their croque monsiuer and croque madames.