The Colombian Hot Dog Migrates to L.A.

Dear Mr. Gold:

When I visited Miami recently, I kept hearing about something called a Colombian hot dog, which was dressed with strange condiments nobody could quite describe. Fruit and mayonnaise? Something like that. Is there such a thing as a Colombian hot dog in Los Angeles, and if so, where can I find it?

—Bert R., Valley Village

Dear Bert:

The Colombian hot dog, an odd, semitropical wiener sandwich whose toppings include ham and pineapple, is not infrequently found in sandwich stands under the elevated 7-line tracks in Queens, although, until recently, I had never seen an example in California. But the new, Colombian-owned yogurt shop Tutti-Frutti, in the same Pasadena complex as the venerated Euro Pane bakery, practically specializes in the things: a Hebrew National hot dog tucked with ham and mozzarella cheese into a bun with raw onion, spackled with crushed pineapple, sprinkled with crushed potato chips and finished with a three-squeeze-bottle lattice of catsup, mustard and mayonnaise. It is impossible to eat the thing without smearing condiments on your nose, but it isn’t bad — the pineapple serves the same basic sweet-sour function as pickle relish, and even the crushed potato chips make a certain kind of textural sense. 950 E. Colorado Blvd., No. 105, Pasadena, (626) 793-3662 or www.­tuttifruttila.com.

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