Italian Beef, You Say?

Wikipedia describes an Italian beef sandwich in the following manner:

"An Italian beef is a sandwich of thin slices of seasoned roast beef , dripping with meat juices, on a dense, long Italian-style roll, believed to have originated in Chicago, where its history dates back at least to the 1930s. The bread itself is often dipped (or double-dipped) into the juices the meat is cooked in, and the sandwich is typically topped off with Chicago-style giardiniera (called "hot") or sauteed, green Italian sweet peppers (called "sweet").

Italian beef sandwiches can be found at most hot dog stands and small Italian-American restaurants throughout the city of Chicago and its suburbs. They are difficult to find outside the Chicago metropolitan area. However, Chicago expatriates have opened restaurants across the country serving Italian beef, Chicago-style hot dogs, and other foods original to the Chicago area."

What this fails to mention is how incredibly awesome this sandwich is. Seriously, it's a death row meal. Unlike many other sandwiches the secret is it's simplicity. It doesn't require cheese, or any other condiment to make it tasty. The meat, the juice, the bread - it's enough. I prefer my sandwich with giardiniera, but I'll eat it plain, if it's a good sandwich. That's the other side of the knife edge; while a good beef is sublime, a bad one is horrendous. It's not like pizza or a burger, where even a bad one is edible. No, a bad Italian beef sandwich is an affront to the palate, a disgrace to tradition.

My personal favorites:

• Al's Beef - This is tops on my list, just about. Great gravy, great thin giardiniera. Also makes great Italian sausage. But, one word of warning. Go to the original on Taylor, or the one on Ontario. Ignore the rest.
• Johnnie's Beef - I can't believe they don't have a website. Great traditional style beef, with clear, gray-brown juice. And a phenomenal sausage; order the combo. Also, go when it's nice out, there isn't any indoor seating.
• Joe Boston's Italian Beef - This one is a recent addition to my list. I had seen it for years, but never went in to try it, even though it was in my neighborhood. My mistake - while the fries are often lackluster, the beef itself is tasty, juicy and delicious.
• Portillo's - It's tasty, delicious and everywhere. 'Nuff said.
  

Some people might ask, "Why isn't Mr Beef on your list?" I'll tell you. It's for tourists. It's tasty enough, but their giardiniera is totally week; it's celery in oil. Let Jay Leno have his Mr Beef. Any of the above options leave it in the dust.

And now, for some food porn:


Now - go get yourself a sandwich! "One beef, hot; dipped."

New Years Evolution: Chicago in Photos

With the turning of the year, and my interest in history, I naturally think about the passage of time, and the changing of things. Time marches on, and though day to day life seems the same, that is just an illusion.

Located as I am in Chicago, I'm always interested in looking back and buildings and places that are familiar to me, yet viewed in the past, somehow out of context. Fortunately, the fine collection of Charles Weever Cushman's Kodachrome slides at Indiana University is available to peruse online. I've often viewed it, looking at great scans of his shots; Kodachrome is truly vivid and wonderful in it's presentation of color. I've taken some of my favorite shots from his collections - all taken from 1941 through 1944, and paired them up with contemporary shots of the same locations. Human beings cannot experience geologic time, but with photography like this can serve as a metaphor - how something as seemingly timeless as a cityscape, can, in the span of a human life, change profoundly.