Though formerly an Island, Coney Island is a peninsula located in south Brooklyn, NYC. Famous for its beach on the Atlantic, Coney Island once hosted a major resort. It was also well known for its amusement parks, and the area reached its zenith of popularity in the early 1900’s.

In 1916, Nathan’s Famous original hot dog stand opened on Coney Island. The annual hot dog eating contest associated with Nathan’s has been held there since its opening, but has only become widely known in recent years.

A “Coney Island hot dog” is widely understood to be a hot dog with “Coney sauce,” usually a kind of chili without beans. In reality, Coney sauce did not originate on Coney Island but is thought to have been invented in Michigan. Here is a recipe I developed taking what seemed to me to be the best of the ingredients from a number of Coney sauce recipes.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

2 tbsp. butter

1 lb. lean ground beef

2 tbsp. yellow mustard

2 tbsp. cider vinegar

1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/2 tsp. hot pepper sauce

1 cup ketchup

2 tsp. paprika (Hungarian paprika preferred)

2 tsp. chili powder

Instructions:

Sauté the onions and garlic, add the ground beef, cook until brown, drain off excess grease. Combine all of the other ingredients and mix well. Add mixture to the ground beef mixture. Stir well and heat. Let simmer for at least an hour. Spoon mixture on top of your favorite hot dog in a bun. This tastes great with yellow mustard added and a kosher spear on the side.

Copyright © 2007 Lee Griffith. All rights reserved.