Baba's Original New York System, Providence RI (cropped)

The hot wiener, or New York System wiener is a staple of the food culture of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

where it is primarily sold at "New York System" restaurants.

Preparation

The traditional wiener is made with a small, thin

hot dog A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener ( Vienna sausage) or a f ...

made of beef, veal and pork, giving it a different taste from a traditional beef hot dog, served in a steamed bun, and topped with

celery salt Celery salt is a seasoned salt used to flavour food. The primary ingredient is table salt and the flavouring agent is ground seeds from celery or its relative lovage. It is also sometimes produced using dried celery or seed oleoresin. Additives C ...

, yellow mustard, chopped

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus '' Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the on ...

s, and a seasoned meat sauce (the spices vary by vendor but always include celery salt and commonly include

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

paprika Paprika ( US , ; UK , ) is a spice made from dried and ground red peppers. It is traditionally made from '' Capsicum annuum'' varietals in the Longum group, which also includes chili peppers, but the peppers used for paprika tend to be milder ...

chili powder Chili powder (also spelled chile, chilli, or, alternatively, powdered chili) is the dried, pulverized fruit of one or more varieties of chili pepper, sometimes with the addition of other spices (in which case it is also sometimes known as chili ...

, and

allspice Allspice, also known as Jamaica pepper, myrtle pepper, pimenta, or pimento, is the dried unripe berry of ''Pimenta dioica'', a midcanopy tree native to the Greater Antilles, southern Mexico, and Central America, now cultivated in many warm par ...

New York System restaurants

The name ''New York System'' (and less commonly ''Coney Island System'') appeared in Rhode Island in the early 20th century as a marketing strategy when hot dogs were closely associated with New York's

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

.Quahog.org
Sparky's Coney Island System
By the early 1940s, a distinctly Rhode Island product and preparation had evolved among

Providence Providence often refers to: * Providentia, the divine personification of foresight in ancient Roman religion * Divine providence, divinely ordained events and outcomes in Christianity * Providence, Rhode Island, the capital of Rhode Island in the ...

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

community, popularized within the state such that the "wieners" served by New York Systems today bear little resemblance to the traditional

Coney Island hot dog A Coney Island hot dog, Coney dog, or Coney is a hot dog in a bun topped with a savory meat sauce and sometimes other toppings. It is often offered as part of a menu of classic American "diner" dishes and often at Coney Island restaurants. It i ...

. Restaurateurs continue to use the name as a way to advertise this particular local cuisine. The question of the oldest New York System is a matter of some debate, with multiple parties making the claim. One of the most widely known is the

Olneyville New York System The Olneyville New York System is a restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island, known for its hot wieners. It opened in 1946 by Anthony Stavrianakos, a Greek immigrant. The restaurant was named for Providence's Olneyville neighborhood. Stavrianakos' ...

, opened in 1946 and named for Providence's

Olneyville Olneyville is a neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island bordered by Atwells Avenue to the north, U.S. Route 6 to the south and Rhode Island Route 10 to the east. The Woonasquatucket River runs through the southern portion of the neighborhood. ...

neighborhood, but it was the original owner's extended family who operated the Original New York System from 1927 in the Smith Hill neighborhood.Ellis, Jonathan.
"Top Hot Wiener."
''Brown Daily Herald.'' November 27, 2005.Martin, Christopher.
"Whence came the first New York System?"
''Edible Rhody.'' Spring 2007. Another institution, Coney Island Hot Weiners (now E. P. Weiners after various name changes) of East Providence, claims an earlier, albeit contested date of 1915.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hot Wiener Hot dogs Rhode Island cuisine

Preparation

New York System restaurants

See also

References