“Raw Dog: The Naked Truth About Hot Dogs” by Jamie Loftus

c.2023, Forge, $26.99 ,320 pages

Your buns gotta be firm. There’s no substitute: round, firm and just-right squeezable; wide, but not excessive; and cleaved neatly and equally in half. Among life’s little pleasures, nice buns are important. As in the new book “Raw Dog” by Jamie Loftus, where else would you put your freshly grilled hot dog?

Wieners, sausages, frankfurters, you probably grew up on that staple of summer picnics, loaded with relish and mustard. You’ve eaten countless hot dogs in your lifetime, at home, stadium, gas station, camp, fair or street-side. But where will you find the best hot dog in America?

In 2021, in the middle of a pandemic, Jamie Loftus set off from New Mexico with a dog, a cat, a boyfriend, and a tiny budget to find out.

We like to think of hot dogs as a quintessential American food, she says, but the “hot dog is not American at all.” A tube of “meaty scraps in meaty casing” is actually an ancient thing from several cultures. We’ve just made it our own, in many ways across the country and through the decades.

The first hot dogs on Loftus’s journey were a “Sonoran hot dog” topped with bacon and beans, and a dog with vegetables and pasta rings in Albuquerque. Then we learn how hot dogs are made, and maybe you really don’t want to know.

A Coney dog in Tulsa was served on a wet bun. In Georgia, Loftus ate a boiled dog with beans and a dog “with strings.” She had a red hot in Florida, a “second-best … dog” in Virginia. She got to see her ailing father, she fought with her boyfriend, and she had a papaya dog in New York. She was at a hot dog-eating contest on Coney Island, ate a “garbage plate” in Rochester, a Chicago dog in the Windy City, had dairy with her dog in Wisconsin and scarfed down hot dogs in three different stadiums.

And the very best, tastiest hot dog is…? Says Loftus, “Everybody knows that.”

So what’ll you have? Little of this, a lot of that, mustard and pickles, some profanity, couple of laughs, some learning and a road trip inside “Raw Dog,” that’s what.

Let’s go back to the profanity: Author and comedian Jamie Loftus is quick to ladle plenty of that in her book, just so you know. But also know that it matches a series of bad hotel rooms and intestinal issues that arise, a dying relationship and worry about her father, about all of which Loftus is appealingly, honestly forthcoming. If you’ve ever taken a road trip on a dime, you’ll understand everything, including the desperation of wondering if this was really such a good idea after all.

Add in great descriptions of authentic hot dog counters, sprinkle on the history of hot dogs andAmerica, spoon on second thoughts, drag it through the garden and “Raw Dog” is a funny story about a trip you’ll be glad someone else took. If you like your hot dogs loaded, it’s a book you’ll relish.

— The Bookworm Sez