By Trinity Webster-Bass
Chicago residents know about deep dish pizza, Chicago Dogs and Garrett Popcorn. These are foods Chicagoans adore. But why do they love them so much?
Jorge Gonzalez can explain what makes the dogs so iconic. He has been the general manager of Devil Dawgs since it opened in 2010.
“The Chicago Dog has mustard, relish, onions, tomatoes, pickles, peppers and celery salt paired with an all-beef frankfurter nestled into a seeded bun,” Gonzalez said.
“It’s an explosion of flavors. You taste the relish. You taste the mustard. You taste the onions, you taste the celery, the hints of celery salt. And it’s just such a unique mix of flavors.”
Garrett Popcorn provides a similarly distinctive combination of flavors: cheddar and caramel popcorn.
Tee Bowers, a Chicago native, loves it so much, she became general manager for the original location.
“I’ve been coming here since I was 5 years old,” she said, adding that the cheddar and caramel mix is the signature Garrett Popcorn and has been a Chicago favorite for more than 70 years.
And then there’s the famous Chicago deep dish pizza. My Pi is a family-owned pizzeria in Bucktown that does deep dish differently.
“So, what makes it so popular is, one, it was invented in Chicago. But two, the Italian sausage, which was actually invented in Chicago,” said My Pi owner Richard Aronson. “And to this day, even though pepperoni is the No. 1 pizza ingredient in the entire United States, sausage is the No. 1 ingredient in Chicago.”
Be the first to comment