Rhode Island is a small state with a big culinary personality: unique dishes, funny names for dishes, and strange ways of serving familiar dishes. And not one, but two hot dog cultures of its own. The better-known one is New York System weenies, but any Ocean State tube steak devotee wants you to know also about Saugys. Actually a brand name (Saugy’s), the word may be used as a synonym for hot dog, but a real Saugy dog is something special: a chubby reddish-pink frank in a natural casing that snaps dramatically each time it is bitten. Saugys are rarely, if ever, topped with the sort of spicy meat sauce used on New York Systems. Mustard, onions, and perhaps sauerkraut are the usual condiments, and the roll is a Yankee split-top. Saugys are sold in grocery stores and delis but seldom served in restaurants. The company, founded by Alphonse Saugy in 1869, went out of business in 2001 but reorganized and reopened the next year.