Spending $80 hot dog seems hard to swallow. But a baseball team in Brockton, Mass., managed to get not one, but two people to shell out that much dough for a tube steak this past Saturday.
In the process, they believe they have made it into the Guinness Book of World Records.
The Brockton Rox of the Can-Am League, an independent baseball team, broke the world record for most expensive Hot Dog during the club's game against the Newark Bears on July 23, which, not coincidentally, was National Hot Dog Day.
For the record, the previous holder of the "Most Expensive Hot Dog" record was a $69 "Foot Long Haute Dog," which sold at New York City restaurant Serendipity 3 on July 23, 2010.
The Rox sold two of the high-end hot dogs -- known alternately as the "K-O Dog," after the club's mascot, and the "McMullen Dog," after Atlantic City chef Ryan McMullen, who came up with the idea -- during Saturday's game. Louis Glanz of Windsor, Conn., bought the first dog shortly after the gates opened.
Ordinarily, $80 is a steep price to pay for a steak, especially considering box seats for Rox games only cost $15. However, this half-pound all beef foot-long Tiffany tube steak was made for a gourmet -- or at least someone with deep pockets.
That's because the dog is deep fried and rolled in truffle oil, then coated with porcini dust, sprinkled with white truffle shavings, and topped with dollops of creme fraiche, caviar and fresh roe. According to the Telegraph, the dog is then served in a buckwheat blini roll, made at one of the area's most exclusive bakeries. And, yes, plebeians can douse it with ketchup and mustard if they dare.
Although the K-O dog will be available at homestands through the remainder of the season, Rox president Mike Canina is happy to get the record out of the way.
"We're thrilled that we were able to set this mark," Rox president Mike Canina said. "Between the new record, the free traditional hot dogs given to the first 1,000 fans through the gates, and appearances by Troy Brown and Ayla Brown, it was a great night to be at Campanelli Stadium."
Meanwhile, sports fans like blogger Jeff G. of LastAngryFan.com are more skeptical about spending that much for any kind of sausage.
"Is it worth $80?" he wrote. "Hardly, unless the buns contained flecks of 14k gold or something, and even that won't help disguise the fact that you're dining on nothing more than highly questionable animal parts covered in expensive foodstuffs."