Bread… food’s greatest conduit.
For thousands of years (yeah we’ve been doing it longer than since 1762 so suck it Earl of Sandwich), humans have been using this floury staple food to house a number of delicious and creative fillings.
So why am I telling you this? Well, I love most things that come between two slices of bread (yes I will be using this definition liberally, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it).
From burgers to hotdogs, from hoagies to kebabs to Banh Mi’s. I deeply love a carbo-loaded torpedo with a delicious filling; meaty or otherwise. So I thought why not review the things I eat on here?
The rule is, it has to be designed to be eaten in between bread of some kind, hence the name ‘Between Two Slices’.
I chose this instead of ‘it has to be a sandwich’ because I know that otherwise, we will end up in a debate about whether a hot dog is a sandwich, and I’m not here for that.
Now you’re probably asking will this be posted regularly? Probably not. I’ll probably post this when I have something of note that I want to talk about.
So what impressive establishment have I chosen for my first review? Well, here’s the thing… I kinda decided to do this on a whim and the last sandwich I had out was from a hotdog stand outside of Old Trafford.
But in the adventurous spirit of Anthony Bourdain (and basically that I’m not that much of a food snob) I thought why shouldn’t I talk about it? So here we go:
Food: Footlong Hotdog
Location/Restaurant: Food Stall outside Old Trafford
Price: £6.00
For many, heading to one of the food stands outside Old Trafford stadium and purchasing one of their many greasy, meaty offerings is seen as a pre-match ritual. For me, however, this is a form of culinary ceremony I have never truly partaken in.
Despite this, the stars aligned recently for me to embark on this epicurean expedition. Kick-off was at 12:30 pm on a Saturday, meaning I was unable to grab food in Manchester beforehand, I was heading in alone, so no one was there to convince me otherwise and most importantly, I was hungry.
So, what were my options?
In the stadium there is an option of pies which are molten volcanos in pastry, cheese twists, which are fine but overpriced for what you get … and Rollover Hotdogs.
Now I don’t want to rag on Rollover too much because some people like them and I respect their choices, but for me pale does not equal palatable. Add that the muted meat cylinder is usually wedged inside a stale and spongy bun, and it is not an enjoyable eating experience.
So, I decided to venture outside Old Trafford for my hotdog.
Every time I walk down Sir Matt Busby Way from the Old Trafford Cricket Ground tram stop, I pass the same offerings, but one always catches my eye. Next to one of the bigger stalls on the right-hand side of the road, there is a smaller vendor who sells footlong hotdogs.
£6.00 was how much it cost me. Yes, that is a serious blow to your wallet, but everything is overpriced when you go to a football match.
The more important thing here is how it tastes, and it tasted… fine. Imagine you went to a barbecue and instead of focusing on conversing with friends or focusing on the contents of his pint glass, the chef (or should we say self-appointed grillmaster) instead diligently watched over his grill.
That’s the sort of quality you’re getting here with the footlong banger. The bun it was sandwiched between was soft if a little doughy, but the onions were crunchy and added a nice tang and sweetness.
Condiments were available on the side and I settled for like I would at a barbecue, a decent helping of ketchup across the top of the dog.
Would it be something that I would choose to go out of my way to eat? No. Was it much better than some of the other offerings I have had while at the football in the past? Undoubtably so.
So, if you’re ever at the football and are feeling peckish, go to that stand. Hopefully, from my very vague description, you’ll be able to find it.
This was probably not the first post that you were expecting on Between Two Slices, but I had a hotdog and thought why not. My next one will probably be at a more permanent location that you’ll probably want to go to regularly.