Some Facts About Chicago’s Italian Beef Sandwich

Image source: culinarymamas.com

There are but a few food creations on the planet that are so impressionable that you wouldn’t mind going to its origin just to eat and go back to wherever it is you came from. Indeed, food creations do not often make it to the golden status of an icon, and when it does make it, it speaks highly about how absolutely delicious and heavenly it must be to the palate.

Such is the case of Chicago’s Italian beef sandwich. Of course, there are many versions, as the people of Chicago are quite known to be masters of the kitchen. But typically, the Italian beef sandwich is made with thinly sliced oven roasted beef inserted into a piece of bread dipped in broth. The sandwich is spiked with hot Italian giardiniera sauce. The rest of the toppings are as limited as the imagination of whoever makes the sandwich.

It is believed that this sandwich was created by Italian immigrants who worked for Chicago’s legendary Union Stock Yards, which used to provide America with a huge percentage of meat. Typically, workers would bring home the less desirable beef cuts, referred to as beef hash, which was relatively tougher and not so comfortable to the bite.

Image source: thecountrybasket.com

The key to enjoying the meat scraps was to find a way to tenderize them, and the solution was to simmer slowly in a broth accentuated by garlic and spices. When the first person to put a heap of this beef in a piece of bread took the first bite, the celebrated sandwich was born.

It’s quite hard to dispense with good food memories. If there’s one thing to miss about Windy City, the Italian beef sandwich has got to be it.

Jon Bunge is a native of Chicago, the home of the best Italian beef sandwiches in the country. He is now temporarily based in San Francisco, and he can’t wait to come home to the Windy City. Follow the native Chicagoan on Twitter.