“Should we stop for one more?” I ask my partner as he rounds a corner with sheep grazing on one side and a cascading waterfall on the other. He gives me the side-eye while I insist we just need a little post-hike snack.
Hot dogs, or “meat apples,” as we’ve come to jokingly call them, are a gas station go-to in the remote Faroe Islands. These sausages with impossibly snappy casings are like biting into a crisp apple—although arguably much less doctor-approved. And while these hot dogs are imported from Denmark and served “French-style,” they are distinctly Faroese.
Step into any Magn or Effo gas station dotting the Faroe Islands, and you’ll likely be behind one or two other people waiting for a frankfurter. It may be a construction worker with dirty boots and paint-stained hands ordering a few for lunch or an eager child who just got out of school looking for a warm snack.
The various types of sausages are kept warm on a roller grill. The soft bun is hollowed out and warmed after ordering, making it a “French dog,” as the locals call it. Your choice of squeeze-bottle sauce is added inside, followed by the hot dog, which evenly distributes the sauce, creating a wildly addictive and affordable meal at roughly $3 to $4 apiece.
“The fact that you have around ten to 15 different sausages to choose from and at least the same amount of dressings and sauces makes it a perfect meal for a lot of people,” says Jógvan Steingrim Rasmussen, Head Chef of Áarstova in the country’s capital city of Tórshavn. “If two, three or four people are together traveling, it's easy just to go get a nice hot dog on the road.”
And since you only need one hand to eat this hot dog style served in the Faroes, it’s the perfect accompaniment.
“I think the hot dogs are popular because, for a long time, there was little else available if you were driving around the islands. Restaurant culture as such is very new,” says Tim Ecott, travel writer and author of the best-selling “The Land of Maybe: a Faroe Islands Year.”
Ecott ideates that the small island nation's ties to Denmark are another reason hot dogs are just a regular part of the food scene there. The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago within the Kingdom of Denmark, where there is also a strong affinity for meat served in tubed form. In fact, the sausages served at gas stations throughout the country are made from Danish pork.
Although everyone has their favorite combination—mine is a chili sausage with spicy mustard, the options feel endless. Sausage types include cheese, bacon-wrapped, cheese and bacon, chili and a “meatball” sausage (basically just pan-fried meatballs.) The sauce or dressing varieties are just as varied as ketchup, sweet mustard, spicy mustard, garlic and, the most popular, French dressing.
“French dressing is a combination of mayonnaise, curry and mustard,” says local chef Mortan Borgarlíð. “You get the sweet and sour taste from the dressing, and you get the smokey grilled flavor from the sausage, combined with the crunchy bread. Hot dogs cover most of your taste cravings.”
In a place where food can be pricey, it’s a budget-conscious salve to a grumbling stomach and a quick stop-off in between a busy sightseeing itinerary. And while a hot dog may not seem like a culinary gem in a far-off country, ordering one is an immersive experience of everyday life in the Faroes. And if you really want to fit in, listen to Rasmussen, “Usually, we Faroese buy two each because there is always a nice price offer, and they're so damn good.”
