“Man does not live by foie gras alone,” Anthony Bourdain once said. “It’s a noble thing to make a damn good hot dog.” The late chef and writer was an enthusiastic fan of what he variously termed meat in tube form, encased meats, and tubular meats. Pillowing the sausage between bread, the hot dog was a “ballistic missile delivery system.”
And if you ask us, a good hot dog has a noble cause: to supply one’s drunk-ass body with the carbs, protein, and fat it needs to find its way to shelter. It’s also what makes the hot dog such excellent bar food.
Much like Bourdain, the hot dog itself is well-travelled. Its earliest roots aren’t American, but — and this it shares with the current US president — it has its roots in Germany, probably Frankfurt.
But since being brought to 1800s America by German immigrants, the convenient delivery vehicle for sausage made its way around the US, with different preparations becoming popular in different states. When it comes to which dog reigns supreme, however, there is a correct answer and Bourdain had it right: the Chicago Dog (beef wiener, yellow mustard, chopped white onions, radioactive green pickle relish, dill pickle spear, tomatoes, and and peppers) makes a mockery of the austere dirty water dogs of New York.
The hot dog has since spread far afield, and, thanks to some very good butchery and providores of tubular meats, there are some great examples to be had in bars across the country.
But I dare say none of them hold a candle to the delights of the dog at Deadwax on Enmore Road in Sydney.
Opened by (owners of Leichhardt bar Otis) Conor O’Brien and Dan Teh, and chef Davyd Blacksmith (ex-NOLA Smokehouse), Deadwax is a music bar with some considered cocktails and excellent bar eats.
And their Dumpling Hot Dog? Delicious doesn’t do the thing justice: it’s moreish, with a snap in the sausage so loud you might hear it over the music; it’s a dog so delicious you’ll tune out whatever — and whoever — is around you.
Here, I talk to Blacksmith about how and why this particular example of the genre came about, and what you want your bar food to achieve.
BOOTHBY: How did the idea for the dumpling hot dog come together?
DAVYD BLACKSMITH: Dan Teh sends me a million food thirst traps on Insta each day, and about half of them are hotdogs — so I figured I should take the hint for our new menu.
But the idea for a dumpling hotdog was all my wife, Kelsey. She said, “I reckon a dumpling hot dog would go off,” and I said, “say no more.”
I reached out to Greg at Euromaster Smallgoods & Fine Foods, we’ve been mates and working together since I was heading up Riley St Garage about 10 years ago; he’s been making me custom sausages and blends at every venue I’ve worked at or consulted for ever since. Told him I wanted a pork and prawn double smoked kransky, he asked why I love making his life hard, we chatted specs and four days later I received 10kg of the most aromatic kranskies I’ve ever tasted. Bit of back and forth on the blend; we landed on about 15 percent prawn so it shines through without making the sausage too dry, and the rest is Greg’s secret signature blend of pork and fat — no clue what his recipe is, pretty sure he’s taking that one to his grave.
The sauce, again, is all Kelsey. When we first got together I’d make dumplings and she’d make the dipping sauce with Kewpie, Maggie Seasoning and sriracha — I knew it’d be perfect for this. Added a touch of yuzu gel, but the rest was all her.
Throw it on a sweet fluffy brioche bun, add some tasty texture on top, done. It is really a case of giving the people what they want! Dan wanted hotdogs, Kelsey always wants dumplings, so when I was asking about hotdog flavours she said dumplings – I made it happen.
BOOTHBY: What’s the key to a great wiener? I’ve always wanted to ask.
DAVYD BLACKSMITH: Easy. Quality pork, natural casing, and fat. If you can eat it with no sauce and still let out that little exhale of happiness then you know you’ve got something good going on.
The snap you get from a good casing always makes me know I’m eating a quality snag whether it’s for bangers and mash or an outstanding glizzy.
BOOTHBY: What’s the brief for the food at Deadwax?
DAVYD BLACKSMITH: I would say that the food ethos currently at Deadwax is high-low.
Taking a humble crumpet and smothering it with taramasalata, bottarga and salmon roe, for example, or our biggest-seller: the wagyu pastrami sando — a simple Hawaiian roll but stacked with MB9+ Australian wagyu pastrami.
We want people to feel the food is approachable and fun but still get a quality experience, and something they’re not making at home.
We’re not expecting people to come to us for dinner. But we don’t want people to feel like they have to leave if they’re snackish or hungry. We want to be able to accommodate guests with a stacked menu so they can stay and continue having a great time.
BOOTHBY: When it comes to bar food more broadly, what are you looking to achieve with your dishes? How do you balance the need to get food out quickly in a small space with making things delicious?
DAVYD BLACKSMITH: My approach for food at the bar is to do all the heavy lifting in the prep.
I spend a good amount of time each week in our prep kitchen and transporting it to the venues so that in service, the team only have a few elements to complete. Heat, build and serve.
Keeping the dishes to three or four components ensures quick service, but with the three to four elements being stacked with flavour and keeping it to that simple idea of salty, fatty, sweet and textural. Similar to prep-heavy batched cocktails really — pack the flavour in on the back end, three bottle touches and fast service.
That and a real focus on quality ingredients, produce and working relationships with suppliers like Greg.
BOOTHBY: What are the elements of an ideal bar food dish?
DAVYD BLACKSMITH: Again, looking to my wife on this one because she talks about bar food a lot and Kelsey always says: “salty, crunchy, dippy.”
So my chef brain translates that to flavour, texture and fun — they are the most compelling elements of a bar food dish. If one of those things is missing the whole dish falls flat.
Also, make it easy to eat and easy to enjoy eating — for the love of god, stop serving me hot wings without also providing napkins and a wet wipe.
