Straddling the slaw line

Plenty of American cities and regions have an associated hot dog, but frank pride runs especially high in the Mountain State. Emily Hilliard, the former West Virginia state folklorist and founding director of the West Virginia Folklife Program, spoke to The Food Section about the hot dog chapter of her new book, Making Our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia, scheduled for release on November 22.

Hanna Raskin: Let’s start by clarifying that this is not a book all about hot dogs. Do you want to talk about the purpose of the book and how hot dogs fit into it?