Why Did Ivanka Trump Serve Hot Dogs With Marshmallows At Arabella Kushner’s Birthday Party?
Ivanka Trump’s birthday party for daughter Arabella Kushner, who turned six-years-old this week, has created quite a buzz over the past few days. And it’s all because of a rather curious dish served at the young girl’s bash — hot dogs and marshmallows on skewers.
As noted by Delish, social media users didn’t quite know what to make out of the food being served at Arabella Kushner’s sixth birthday party. And while many users had commented that the unusual hot dog-and-marshmallow combo was another example of the eccentric ways of rich people, or the Trump family in general, it was mostly bemusement for the likes of Fox News field producer Whitney Ksiazek, who wanted to know if such a dish is actually “a thing.”
Likewise, Teen Vogue wrote that Ivanka became the latest Trump whose food choices were mocked by internet users, as her father, President Donald Trump, had previously gotten flak for his preference for eating his steak well done with a “smothering of ketchup,” among other tendencies.
While social media did find Ivanka Trump’s choice of birthday snack for Arabella’s party to be strange, it’s actually a mainstay of birthday parties in the Philippines, as well as a popular street food in the Southeast Asian nation. According to Filipino Kitchen co-founder Natalia Roxas, hot dogs served on skewers with marshmallows have been around since the time of the American occupation in the Philippines, when American soldiers would sell their rations to Filipino customers.
Roxas further explained that there’s a key difference between the hot dogs Ivanka Trump served at Arabella’s birthday bash and the hot dogs Filipinos typically consume.
“Filipino hot dogs are like fire engine red. They’re saltier than the hot dogs we know in the States.”
did Ivanka Trump throw her kids a Filipino birthday party??? pic.twitter.com/1hCuNN28Rt
— Matt Ortile (@ortile) July 18, 2017
Nonetheless, the idea of the U.S. President’s eldest daughter serving a Filipino birthday dish at her daughter’s party wasn’t lost on several Filipino social media users, including Buzzfeed Philippines editor Matt Ortile, who quipped that Trump may have been trying to throw a “Filipino birthday party” for Arabella. Others had even called Ivanka out for using the wrong type of hot dog – the usual orange-brown hot dogs sold in the U.S., and not the bright red ones sold in the Philippines.
Additionally, some users stuck up for Ivanka Trump and Arabella Kushner, saying that critics should do their research and read up on other cultures before making negative comments on social media.
What's a party without hotdog & marshmallow skewers? See @IvankaTrump's Filipino-inspired birthday snack: https://t.co/DEOY9y8Xv3 pic.twitter.com/o7cZIf8Gzf
— Preen.ph (@preenph) July 19, 2017
But is it any good, though? Roxas explained to Delish that based on her experience, the hot dog/marshmallow combo “tastes like a party.”
“I have fond memories eating this. Our marshmallow is made sweeter, so it gives you a salty-sweet dynamic. But especially when the hot dog is fresh off the pan or grill, the marshmallow has a slight melt on it, and you get a gooey bite with your hot dog.”
In another interesting note that’s led people to think Ivanka Trump’s party for Arabella may have subconsciously been a Filipino-style birthday, the party had also included spaghetti, which Filipinos often eat in combination with hot dogs and marshmallows on skewers. However, as Delish pointed out, the spaghetti served by the Kushners looked more like the traditional Italian-style variety, and not the sweet spaghetti with hot dogs bits, ground pork, and banana ketchup served at Filipino birthday parties.
[Featured Image by Win McNamee/Getty Images]
