Santander wrote:Baer just revealed his source for most of his recommended eats on an interview with WGN-AM's Bob Sirott about 45 seconds ago - a little community into "the dingiest spots imaginable" - LTHForum.com!

Just for the record, Geoffery Baer did not write or produce the program. He was merely the on camera "meat puppet". It was written and produced by Dan Protess, who has posted here about the program. In fact, he posted here early in the production process looking for recommendations. Nice job Dan!

Agreed! Nice job, everyone at WTTW, esp. show researchers and writers!

I'm with Mike - one of the reasons I'm into food is the cultural significance it has: in a world where the extended family is getting smaller and smaller, those inherited family dishes offer a way trace our history as Americans. I thought the Soul Food segment illustrated that point beautifully.

Mike G wrote:I felt it was a little superficial on the subject of immigration. Partly I wish it had talked to more of the real folks, in depth.... I also felt that sometimes the ethnic-neighborhood focus was a little disconnected-- yeah, there's an Indo-Pak community on Devon, and a Russian Jewish community on Devon, but we would never know that they're basically the same community which, given the state of the world in 2007, is pretty cool too.

Here, here!

I guess that would have been one of those 5 part epics if they had gone into that depth, but I would have been glued to the tv if it were. I would absolutely LOVE to watch an in-depth doc about the ethnic dining "areas" of our city with interviews with some of the proprietors of the oldest restaurants in those areas. Taylor st, argyle, devon, chinatown, Pilsen, our Thai communities, Soul Food haunts etc - and then, some chats with the new (in the grand scheme of things) people/places - like Bayless, Bahena, Achatz, Cantu, McCain etc.. I liked that show a lot, but it really only scratched the surface - Not that it could have done any more in the time it had.

seebee wrote:I liked that show a lot, but it really only scratched the surface - Not that it could have done any more in the time it had.

Can you say sequel? I hope the folks at WTTW can.

Actually, they have demonstrated in the past that they are willing to take a show and follow up on the concept in greater detail. The program "Remembering Chicago" is a fine example of this, where the program was produced, then followed up with the trilogy of "Remembering Chicago Again", "Remembering Chicago & World War II" and "Remembering Chicago: The Boomer Years".

Hopefully, they'll more fully explore the culinary history of Chicago like they have with Baer's geographical tours.

Mike G wrote:I felt it was a little superficial on the subject of immigration...I would have liked to see them dig deeper into those communities, which they did in a couple of cases maybe (Polish maybe got the best of that, including Cookie Monster). It may seem odd coming from me, but I would have liked a little less food and a little more of the people....A good program, another blow struck for the cause that great dining in Chicago is not just Alinea or Gibson's, let alone Cheesecake Factory on Michigan Avenue, but a rich tapestry of neighborhood dining.

It's funny, as a suburbanite both raised (Northbrook) and educated (Evanston), I have found food as the skeleton key to unlocking previously unknown neighborhoods in the city. Reading about the ethnic neighborhoods and their respective dinging traditions on LTH has made me seek out corners of Chicago that I never would have otherwise set foot in. From Humboldt Park to Bridgeport to Avondale and Albany Park - food has helped open up the city map to me.

I further fostered this interest with Marilyn Pocius' A Cook's Guide To Chicago and then more recently, I received as a gift Richard Lindberg's Passport's Guide to Ethnic Chicago. Is this the definitive book on the fluid history of Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods? Certainly not. But it has a lot of fascinating history on immigrant groups and their movement over time. It describes the migration of the German population from Oldtown to Lakeview and settling in Lincoln Square. And describes a short-lived stop of the Swedish-Norwegian community in Belmont-Sheffield on their way moving north from LaSalle and Wells to Andersonville (always wondered where that Ann Sather's came from).

Anyway, I too am fascinated by food as a proxy for immigrant communities and ethnic migration (I also think you can tell a pretty accurate history of colonialism by studying the rise of the Western business suit...but that's another show).

So, I look forward to watching this PBS documentary, but I too would love to see someone telling the intertwining tale of Chicago's food and the growth and development of our city by the lake.

Santander wrote:Baer just revealed his source for most of his recommended eats on an interview with WGN-AM's Bob Sirott about 45 seconds ago - a little community into "the dingiest spots imaginable" - LTHForum.com!

A few of us were at WTTW to "man the phones" last night. I was somewhat gratified when Geoffrey Baer made a point to seek us out and thank us for many of the leads used in the production of Foods of Chicago. Likewise, writer and producer Dan Protess was equally complimentary.

Very good. I watched much of the pledge drive programming last night, and you and Gary were on camera constantly behind Geoff's head. Your recommendations kicked off his whole "call in and give us your favorite restaurant in addition to your pledge" spiel. He did call one of the LTH recs "Johnny's Hot Dogs," which I assume is "Johnny's Red Hots."

My favorite new quote internal to the program, when he was talking to the guy who invented the eggnog creme for Fannie May:


Chocman: go ahead, put it on your tongue.
Baer: Mmmmm. I taste chocolate. But I know you taste so many MORE flavors!
Chocman: Yes. I taste chocolate, sweet, dairy, and bitter.
Baer: Wow! Is your tongue insured?

Least. Impressive. Demonstration. Of. Palate. Ever.

Santander wrote:He did call one of the LTH recs "Johnny's Hot Dogs," which I assume is "Johnny's Red Hots."

Which I assume is Jimmy's Red Hots.

Rene G wrote:

Santander wrote:He did call one of the LTH recs "Johnny's Hot Dogs," which I assume is "Johnny's Red Hots."

Which I assume is Jimmy's Red Hots.

It was Jimmy's Red Hots, I guess he couldn't read my writing.

Foods of Chicago is being shown tonight at 8:00 on WTTW. It's been a while since it's been on and I'm looking forward to another viewing.

Thanks for the heads up. The breakfast show is on now! (though it's not about Chicago.)
Funny-ish story. Dinner tonight:
Leftover Thai, tamales from the guy outside of Guanajuato on Belmont, and hot dogs.

I'm giving this thread a bump because Foods of Chicago: A Delicious History is being shown tonight at 8:00 on WTTW. It's been a while since this program has aired and it will be great to see it again. Some of the places in the show are no longer with us, so it's a nice trip down memory lane.

Just stumbled across this being broadcast tonight on WTTW until 10 PM ... hope to see the beginning sometime since it's pretty fascinating.

Siun wrote:Just stumbled across this being broadcast tonight on WTTW until 10 PM ... hope to see the beginning sometime since it's pretty fascinating.

Just stumbled across it, too. I thought they did a great job, and I actually even learned a few things.

Re. Blommers: For the 15 years of my professional career, I worked in various locations within smelling distance of Blommers. Most of the time it was a fairly pleasant, benign smell, but every once in a while it turned into what I always jokingly described as, "Oops...someone fell into a vat of chocolate last week & we've just found the body." Sickeningly sweet + acrid + putrid at the same time.

chgoeditor wrote:

Siun wrote:Just stumbled across this being broadcast tonight on WTTW until 10 PM ... hope to see the beginning sometime since it's pretty fascinating.

Just stumbled across it, too. I thought they did a great job, and I actually even learned a few things.

Re. Blommers: For the 15 years of my professional career, I worked in various locations within smelling distance of Blommers. Most of the time it was a fairly pleasant, benign smell, but every once in a while it turned into what I always jokingly described as, "Oops...someone fell into a vat of chocolate last week & we've just found the body." Sickeningly sweet + acrid + putrid at the same time.

My neighbor gets her garden mulch from Blommers - the spent cocoa husks - and swears by them. On warm day, it's exactly as if I'm working in the West Loop again, minus the bus pollution, plus a certain whiff of songbird rump and rotting dandelions. I should hasten to add that everything she grows is fantastic, from tulips and sunflowers to cucumbers.

Santander wrote:
My neighbor gets her garden mulch from Blommers - the spent cocoa husks - and swears by them. On warm day, it's exactly as if I'm working in the West Loop again, minus the bus pollution, plus a certain whiff of songbird rump and rotting dandelions. I should hasten to add that everything she grows is fantastic, from tulips and sunflowers to cucumbers.

We use the Blommer's mulch as well (available at Meinke Garden Center, if you can't make it to the factory). Once we put it down, we get at least a week to 10 days of chocolate aroma in the backyard before it fades away.

Meinke Garden Center
5803 W Touhy Ave
Niles, IL 60714
(847) 647-9455