October Saveur entirely focused on Chicago

[ronnie_suburban]

Hey all,

In case you were not aware, the October issue of Saveur Magazine is entirely focused on the foods of Chicago. Adorning the cover is a truly gastro-pornographic shot of a slice of pizza from Burt's Place in Morton Grove.

Also covered in the issue are Chicago originals like Shrimp de Jonghe, the Jibarito, the Mother in Law and of course, Chicago-style hotdogs. Saveur's writers and editors teamed up with local food experts, scholars, writers and historians to deliver a refreshingly original and accurate take on Chicago's current food scene and one that, quite frankly, I wouldn't have expected from a non-local publication.

If you are at all interested in the foods of Chicago, I highly recommend picking up the October issue of Saveur. It's a pure delight from cover to cover.

=R=

[tim]

Ronnie,

I agree about the nice coverage of Chicago, but where did they get that terrible recipe for Italian Beef?

Tim

[ronnie_suburban]

Ronnie,

I agree about the nice coverage of Chicago, but where did they get that terrible recipe for Italian Beef?

Tim

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Hehe . . . I was thinking that no commercial entity with a successful recipe would actually share it.

=R=

[LindsayAnn]

Ronnie - do you know where (in Chicago) i can get myself a copy of this months magazine?

[ronnie_suburban]

Ronnie - do you know where (in Chicago) i can get myself a copy of this months magazine?

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I'd guess pretty much any newsstand, although they may be flying off the shelves faster than usual. I've seen it in the magazine section at both B&N and Border's, too.

=R=

[Darren72]

Some articles are on-line:

http://www.saveur.com/back-issue/other/200...-105-54030.html

[Pebs]

I totally agree Ronnie. This is a great read even if you aren't from Chicago. But having grown up there, I was reminded about things I grew up with that I had forgotten all about and never actually knew the history of. I grew up in the Polish neighborhoods around Milwaukee Ave. and they even did a great job covering the Polish traditional foods that are so abundant in Chicago. And I too agree about the Italian Beef recipe. Now way. But the Begos and Stuffed Cabbage recipes looked pretty authentic. I guess Polish cooks are more forthcoming than Italian cooks.

Cindy

[Chris Amirault]

Can someone more knowledgeable than I on the subject explain their critique of the Italian beef recipe? My issue hasn't yet arrived in the mailbox, I should add.

[joiei]

I will have to go pick up a copy and read up about Chicago since I have never been there. Isn't that awful of me? It is on my list to go to in the next two years.

[Pebs]

On reading that recipe, I noted two things that differed from what I grew up with. I don't have the Saveur recipe in front of me but if memory serves me correctly, they made a sport pepper relish that was kept separate from the beef until serving time and then added to the sandwich. In most Chicago Style Italian Beef recipes peppers and gardinera are added to the beef and broth and then slow roasted to add spice to the beef as it's slow roasting. With more served on the sandwich if it suits you. It also appeared that the Saveur recipe called for roasting the beef to medium and then dipping the slices in the beef broth before serving them. Most of what I grew up with was not done that way, it was well done, with the exception of Mamma Fiore's near Grand Ave. in Chicago which served theirs medium, dipped in broth and then smothered in marinara sauce.

Cindy

[nr706]

Overall, a very good issue ... but throughout, they seem to be geographically challenged. (Ed Debevic's is in the Loop? Conrad Chicago is in the center of the Loop? Ed's Potsticker House is in Chinatown?)

[Fat Guy]

My copy arrived today and I thought it was strong work. When I saw the cover I thought, "I wonder how they'll handle Alinea?" After all, Saveur's "authenticity" mission, at least as Saveur has historically interpreted it, does not exactly square with molecular gastronomy. Peter Meehan's piece on Alinea tries to make the case that Chicago's industrial food culture provides historical context for Alinea, and that would indeed be a Saveur-esque explanation, but I don't buy it.

[ryanj]

As good as the issue was, they did not go into detail about any of the steakhouses in town. Even though Chicago Magazine said they preferred New York steakhouses over Chicago's a while back (which, by the way, Peter Luger just got knocked down to two stars recently in the Times,) Chicago is still the beef capital of the U.S. (sorry Texas.) The classics like Gene and Georgettis, Gibson's, Morton's, Chop House and Harry Caray's received no mention in the issue. The rest I found very interesting and a good read, especially the whole pig and Polish section.

[nsxtasy]

As good as the issue was, they did not go into detail about any of the steakhouses in town.

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I'm not surprised. You can find excellent steakhouses in any major city, and I assume that's the reason they didn't mention them.