Hot Dog Eating Contest Winner Got Started With Matzo Balls

The Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition. It is held each year on Independence Day at Nathan's Famous Corporation's original, and best-known restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City.

The men's champion is Joey Chestnut, who ate 71 hot dogs in in this year's contest. The victory was Chestnut's 12th since 2007.

So how do these competitive eaters train for the July 4th main event? A little known fact is that Chestnut developed his munching skills by chowing down on matzo balls in 2008 in Houston, winning first place in the Kenny and Ziggy's World Matzo Ball Eating Championship.

Kenny and Ziggy's is a kosher style deli in Houston. We profiled Ziggy Gruber in 2015 when the Deli Man documentary was released.

Today we're sharing a rare video showing Joey Chestnut beating out eight competitors by devouring 78 baseball-sized matzo balls in 8 minutes.

Enjoy, but we wouldn't advise that you try this stunt.


A SPECIAL NOTE FOR NEW EMAIL SUBSCRIBERS:  THE VIDEO IS NOT VIEWABLE DIRECTLY FROM THE EMAIL THAT YOU GET EACH DAY.  YOU MUST CLICK ON THE TITLE AT THE TOP OF THE EMAIL TO REACH THE JEWISH HUMOR CENTRAL WEBSITE, FROM WHICH YOU CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON IN THE VIDEO IMAGE TO START THE VIDEO.