The hot dog is not to America what white rice is to Japan: instead of simply signifying "American," as white rice does for the Japanese, the hot dog is a signifier of the American "old-fashioned good time." .
Mary Douglas classifies food as conveying "messages about different degrees of hierarchy, inclusion and exclusion, boundaries and transitions across boundaries" (86). .
In the case of the baseball game, what is not served is important: Hungry at the game, many options are available to you. Besides the famous hot dog, one could order nachos, pretzels, or peanuts. Thirsty? Soda, water and beer are the options there. While members of high society are spotted frequently attending events such as these, options for food and drink stay the same. Wine is not served. Hard alcohol is not served. Nor are vegetarian sandwiches, pita pockets or salads, all staples of popular Hollywood and New York cafes. The combination of options available creates a syntagm popular with most Americans, signifying something important. It is not the food itself that is popular; it is the connotation, the emotional ties, it brings with it.
Along with the hot dog, beer is another extremely popular staple at the baseball game. Beer brings with it images of men, sporting events, bars, rowdiness and frat parties. There are very fancy beers brewed today, expensive and imported from different countries. Yet no amount of advertising for this kind of beer would cause it to become thought of as an "upper-class beverage." Wine, on the other hand, as well as mixed drinks, carries a certain stigma with them. Certain wines and certain drinks are meant to be served with particular foods. Chilled vodka and caviar go hand-in-hand, while beer goes best with pizza or a hot dog. .
In this case, where combinations of foods are making up a more complete structure, intertextuality plays a key role in determining how we view these combinations.
