justjoan wrote:fiore's deli, an old style italian neighborhood grocery store which makes lots of sandwiches around lunchtime(be forewarned) does a very fine pepper and egg sandwich all day every day. . below is a link to the deli menu. much as i like this place for its cheaper- than -most volpi genoa salami, proscuitto and fresh mozzarella, i have to say i find their homemade deli foods such as caponata, marinara, composed salads,etc. to be pretty bad. they do have a small but fresh selection of produce(though not local or organic, alas).

fiore's is at 2258 w. erie

http://chicago.menupages.com/screenmenu ... aglineid=0

I have a Fiore's pepper and egg every sunday morning. I'm not a lover of eggs, but this sandwich keeps me coming back every week. I top it off with their own mild giardinara. They also make a mean meatball and have a nice selection of house-made pastas.

This one is a bit of a curveball, and not many people know about it, but try Steak n' Egger at Cermak and Racine in the Pilsen neighborhood. It's a total hole in the wall diner surrounded by a bunch of nearly-abandoned buildings, but it's pretty good

1174 W Cermak Rd
(between May St & Racine Ave)
Chicago, IL 60608
Neighborhood: Pilsen

Well, since it's Lent again, and I found this thread, thought I'd fire a question and see if we can bring it back to life before Easter (groan).

Ok, so my father & grandfather (both Polish Catholic) used to eat what they called a "pepper & egg sandwich", which basically consisted of a fried/poached egg with black pepper on bread, usually toast (deke's recipe, below).

Now, searching the web, I'm finding more references to the Italian style, green/red pepper sauteed, mixed with an egg, and looks more like a scramble/skillet on a roll.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1162 ... d-egg.html

Do we have any consensus here on which you can expect when ordering a pepper & egg sandwich? There was even a joke made about this earlier in the thread (possibly a joke, maybe just an honest confusion like I have, emphasis mine):

deke rivers wrote:

Bruce wrote:I usually make my own for breakfast every morning. I have a 5" cast iron skillet that is as smooth as a silk. Toss in a tablespoon of lard, 2 eggs, break the yolks, salt and heavy black pepper. When browned I flip and baste with Gwiv's chili oil and toss between 2 slices of white toast.

where do the peppers come in?

So, do we have some more history on this humble sandwich and why we have two sandwiches that, admittedly have "pepper" and eggs, but are quite different?

For this Eastern European the pepper and egg can only be scrambled eggs and sweet peppers on an Italian roll (every once in a while I'll ask for a slice of provolone, but that's pushing it). An egg sandwich with black pepper is just an egg sandwich.

Edzo's just announced a Lenten special: the classic Chicago pepper & egg sandwich, Edzo style. $4.99.

spinynorman99 wrote:For this Eastern European the pepper and egg can only be scrambled eggs and sweet peppers on an Italian roll (every once in a while I'll ask for a slice of provolone, but that's pushing it). An egg sandwich with black pepper is just an egg sandwich.

Clearly, there's some more confusion over that, for whatever reason. I mean, in a thread marked "Pepper and Egg sandwich" a recipe for what you would call an egg sandwich was posted.

So I was curious as to how many people have noticed this overlap with the term for two different sandwiches.

Oh, and Edzo's tweet about his sandwich was what made me realize that what I (and others, apparently) had thought was a Pepper & Egg sandwich was not what others thought it was. Perhaps a north side/south side divide?

I've been posting on (and reading about) pepper and egg sandwiches many Lents back to before there was an LTH and the core of what would become LTH was a listserve, and I have never peceived this supposed confusion. Now back to my salt and french fries and mustard and hot dog.

madopal wrote:

spinynorman99 wrote:For this Eastern European the pepper and egg can only be scrambled eggs and sweet peppers on an Italian roll (every once in a while I'll ask for a slice of provolone, but that's pushing it). An egg sandwich with black pepper is just an egg sandwich.

Clearly, there's some more confusion over that, for whatever reason. I mean, in a thread marked "Pepper and Egg sandwich" a recipe for what you would call an egg sandwich was posted.

So I was curious as to how many people have noticed this overlap with the term for two different sandwiches.

Oh, and Edzo's tweet about his sandwich was what made me realize that what I (and others, apparently) had thought was a Pepper & Egg sandwich was not what others thought it was. Perhaps a north side/south side divide?

This is really the first time I've ever heard anyone identifying an egg sandwich with black pepper as a "pepper and egg." As a Jewish kid growing up on the North Side in the 60's I was oblivious to the Italian Pepper & Egg although my Hungarian mom regularly made Lecso (tomatoes and peppers) and eggs. Once I started exploring the city in my teens (mid-70's), I discovered the classic pepper and egg. Sorry, but adding black pepper doesn't elevate an egg sandwich beyond an egg sandwich.

Man, do I feel out of the loop. I'm Chicagoan. I was raised Catholic. And I've never in my life had a pepper & egg sandwich. I just don't think it was a popular item in my Southwest Side neighborhood. Fridays during Lent were all about fish. Honestly, I just don't see the appeal of the pepper & egg. I like eggs. I like fried peppers. But on an Italian beef bun?

Binko wrote:Man, do I feel out of the loop. I'm Chicagoan. I was raised Catholic. And I've never in my life had a pepper & egg sandwich. I just don't think it was a popular item in my Southwest Side neighborhood. Fridays during Lent were all about fish. Honestly, I just don't see the appeal of the pepper & egg. I like eggs. I like fried peppers. But on an Italian beef bun?

Really? I'm not Catholic and I've been eating them at pretty much any random beef stand since I was a kid. They served them so their deprived customers would have something to order ad it became a tradition. Some kids look forward to Shamrock Shakes. I always looked forward to Pepper & Egg season. Of course, being a heathen, I usually get my P&E sandwich dipped with hot peppers.

stevez wrote:Really? I'm not Catholic and I've been eating them at pretty much any random beef stand since I was a kid.

Nope, I'm not kidding. It just wasn't big in my neighborhood. I don't recall a single hot dog stand (that served beef) having it on the menu. One of them, at least, does now. Never had a pepper & egg sandwich. Sounds completely pointless to me. Lent was fish sandwiches and shrimp baskets. Then again, deep dish pizza was also odd in my neighborhood or at least among my family and friends. I didn't have one until I was about 14 or 15. They existed in the neighborhood, so far as I can tell, but I had never had one. I am not exaggerating in the least, either. And, while we're at it, the "Chicago style hot dog" thing is also mostly foreign to me. I grew up with what are apparently "depression style dogs" by LTH nomenclature. Gene and Jude dogs are familiar to me. The whole Chicago-style-dog stuff with tomatoes I also didn't encounter until I was a teenager.

Never have I heard of any confusion about pepper and egg sandwiches. A sandwich with just an egg and black pepper is called a "fried egg sandwich" in my book. The pepper would not even be mentioned as its a condiment like salt and it goes without saying. (or not),

Peoples' familiarity with pepper and egg sandwiches might have to do with ethnic groups. Some people are just not familar with them. I think they are basically a creation of Italian americans. I would not be familar either but grew up with a lot of Italians so pepper and egg sandwiches were known.

stevez wrote:
Really? I'm not Catholic and I've been eating them at pretty much any random beef stand since I was a kid. They served them so their deprived customers would have something to order ad it became a tradition. Some kids look forward to Shamrock Shakes. I always looked forward to Pepper & Egg season.

I'm not Catholic either and I like them all year long. IIRC,Roma's on Cicero serves them every day.

This sort of discussion sometimes beckons Antonius who will have something erudite to add. Meanwhile, my aunts not much removed from Naples made pepper and egg often. For the lack of meat as much as the rule against it. Pepper and egg sandwiches made with a bit of good olive oil are a definitive formative food memory for me, brilliant in their simplicity, and dependent on the quality of a few ingredients. Not pointless but the point. When I saw the high regard Chicagoans of all kinds held for pepper and egg, I knew I liked the place. And as with other simple, singular foods, most renditions suck. You've got to be good with eggs and not "break" them when folding in the peppers. A skill most beef slingers lack.

Adding on to Artie's comment, above: On Fridays, Roma's serves their Peppers&Egg sandwiches with a sausage link, if you wish.

New ownership has improved some items, which were pretty good before the change. Try the chili.

Binko wrote:And, while we're at it, the "Chicago style hot dog" thing is also mostly foreign to me. I grew up with what are apparently "depression style dogs" by LTH nomenclature. Gene and Jude dogs are familiar to me. The whole Chicago-style-dog stuff with tomatoes I also didn't encounter until I was a teenager.

Ditto. I still don't eat anything more exotic that mustard, relish, onion and sport peppers on my dogs.

Yay. But pepper & eggs, I wonder if that is an Italian-American thing. Now that I think about it, and with toria mentioning fried egg sandwiches, we simply didn't have those at the local hot dog stands. So no eggs would have been available even if you wanted them, hence my unfamiliarity with pepper & eggs sandwiches. I mean, why would a hot dog stand have eggs available? I can't think of a single order that would require eggs.

Binko wrote:Now that I think about it, and with toria I can't think of a single order that would require eggs.

Pepper and egg sandwiches!! I don't think they have eggs there for anything else...


Sent from my iPh

To me Pepper and Egg sandwiches are the ones popular in Italian communities on Friday's during lent. Scrambled eggs mixed with sauteed bell peppers on a French bun with the option of "hot" here in Chicagoland. The Polish version just sounds like a fried egg topped with salt and pepper on some toast. Al & Joe's has a diffeent sandwich on special each day that isn't offered any other days. Friday's (year-round) it's a pepper and egg. A very good version indeed.


Al & Joe's Pepper & Egg Sandwich

But the best in the city comes from the same spot that serves one of my favorites sandwiches in the world. The sausage grilled over charcoal is what separates the combo at Johnnie's from all others. They offer pepper and egg's year-round on Friday's and for those of us who dont believe it's our diets that will determine our fate you can get one with sausage which makes it so much better.


Johnnie's Pepper and Egg with Sausage

Al and Joe's
10348 Addison Ave
Franklin Park, IL 60131
(847) 678-6788

Johnnie's Beef
7500 W North Ave
Elmwood Park, IL 60707
(708) 452-6000

madopal wrote:So I was curious as to how many people have noticed this overlap with the term for two different sandwiches.

Jessie's at 63rd & Pulaski should be perfect for those who don't like any uncertainty about green versus black when thinking about a pepper and egg sandwich.



I can't recall ever seeing a sign like that before (though this thread probably had me primed to notice it).

Binko wrote:Man, do I feel out of the loop. I'm Chicagoan. I was raised Catholic. And I've never in my life had a pepper & egg sandwich. I just don't think it was a popular item in my Southwest Side neighborhood.

It's probably not a coincidence that Jessie's is not far from where I think Binko grew up. I guess people in those neighborhoods need the pepper & egg sandwich explained a bit.

@Da Beef: Great call on the Pepper and Egg sandwich at Johnnie's. I was there last Friday (Arlington Heights location) with the wife and kids. The best. The Pepper and Egg sandwich at Al and Joe's is excellent, too, much like everything else at Al and Joe's.

@Binko: The whole "Chicago Style Hot Dog drag-it-through-the-garden" idea is still lost on me, too. To me, the "mininalist/depression era" dog, i.e. Gene and Jude's was always what I considered the true Chicago hot dog.

I was very sad to learn yesterday that Roma's only serves Pepper and Egg on Fridays.Is there any place that serves them throughout the week?

David Hammond wrote:

KatyK wrote:Johnnie's Beef in Elmwood Park has a great pepper and egg sandwich! Their pepper and egg combo (with sausage) is outstanding.

Johnnie's Beef
7500 W. North Avenue
Elmwood Park, Il.

You know what's odd (or perhaps not so): the pepper and egg sandwich at Johnnie's tastes like Italian beef. Perhaps from griddling on the same grill, or maybe just from passing through the same atmosphere.

Hammond

I know this is an old comment, and I read through this thread but didn't see the explanation I heard. I thought the reason this was is because the Italian beef jus was incorporated into the sandwich. The Sun-Times writes
this:

The cheese is a nice addition, but not quite as nice as the spoonful of gravy from the Italian beef that gives the pepper and egg a little extra pep at Johnnie’s Beef in Elmwood Park, which remains my favorite. Still, a little of both wouldn’t hurt anything.

I remember years ago reading a Mark Brown column (and I just noticed the above quote is from Mark Brown) where he mentions the Italian beef jus in the pepper & egg, and receiving a bunch of pissed-off letters from Catholic readers who would rather have not known this bit of information.

The Johnnie's combo with their charcoal-grilled sausage does sound great. However, the photo displays what I think is a problem with Chicago pepper and egg generally - the eggs are overcooked and broken. I can just see the pool of water at the bottom of the chafing tin, a la a motel breakfast buffet. Properly seasoned, I can live with broken overcooked, curd-textured eggs. But the ideal is a fried-to-order job made by someone who is good with eggs. I can't really say I've seen that done consistently here in Chicago. I'd bet one's best shot is at a place that cooks eggs all the time, not just for lent.

Whenever I had a Pepper and Egg sandwich back East is was eggs with only very lightly cooked green pepper, no longer crunchy but still bright green. Inspired by this thread, I made myself one last weekend but more in the Chicago style. Yum! Missed that taste. Thank you!

nola1978 wrote:I was very sad to learn yesterday that Roma's only serves Pepper and Egg on Fridays.Is there any place that serves them throughout the week?

Susie's on Montrose any time, day or night.

nola1978 wrote:I was very sad to learn yesterday that Roma's only serves Pepper and Egg on Fridays.Is there any place that serves them throughout the week?

Pepper & Egg is a regular menu item at Max's. My wife can't get enough of these - they are all made to order there vs. being scooped out of a tray of pre-scrambled eggs. The finished product is almost omelet-like in nature, with the peppers folded into the egg. It's more time consuming but I think it's worth the wait. My wife's standard order is to add mozz cheese and hot peppers - it's pretty tasty. Nice people, too.

http://maxsitalianbeef.com/
5754 N Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60659
773-989-8200
(closed Sundays)

Just walked by Mr. Beef on Orleans. Sign in the window "Pepper & Egg Sandwich $5". I've never had it so I can't speak for it, in fact I've never had one ever. I'm not even sure that's a good deal. Seems like it should be a cheap sandwich, like $2.50 $3 at the most. Regardless. There you have it.

Mr. Beef
666 N Orleans St
Chicago, IL 60654
(312) 337-8500

Kman wrote:

nola1978 wrote:I was very sad to learn yesterday that Roma's only serves Pepper and Egg on Fridays.Is there any place that serves them throughout the week?

Pepper & Egg is a regular menu item at Max's. My wife can't get enough of these - they are all made to order there vs. being scooped out of a tray of pre-scrambled eggs. The finished product is almost omelet-like in nature, with the peppers folded into the egg. It's more time consuming but I think it's worth the wait. My wife's standard order is to add mozz cheese and hot peppers - it's pretty tasty. Nice people, too.

http://maxsitalianbeef.com/
5754 N Western Avenue, Chicago, IL 60659
773-989-8200
(closed Sundays)

That's what I was talking about above. thanks for the info. Sounds right.

JeffB wrote:The Johnnie's combo with their charcoal-grilled sausage does sound great. However, the photo displays what I think is a problem with Chicago pepper and egg generally - the eggs are overcooked and broken. I can just see the pool of water at the bottom of the chafing tin, a la a motel breakfast buffet. Properly seasoned, I can live with broken overcooked, curd-textured eggs. But the ideal is a fried-to-order job made by someone who is good with eggs. I can't really say I've seen that done consistently here in Chicago. I'd bet one's best shot is at a place that cooks eggs all the time, not just for lent.

Hey JeffB -- Not sure I have much erudite to add to the discussion here but I do think that the pepper and egg sandwich is something that comes specifically out of the Italo-American realm for Lenten meat-avoidance... In the old days, eggs -- as an animal product -- were not to be consumed on the most serious days of fasting but the Catholic Church in the States had a more northern European (and lax) take on what proper fasting was... cheese and eggs and butter being banned in the Mediterranean world on strict fast days... I can't remember off-hand when the Church in Italy relaxed the rules, despite having written an article about such things a few years back... maybe I should go back and reread it...

Anyway, I have the impression that pepper and egg sandwiches are more widely available these days than they were, say, 10 years ago... And I agree with you that, as simple a dish as it is, not everyone does a very good job on it... I had a very nasty one (sloppy, utterly curdled eggs, excessively greasy) a couple of years ago from a nice Italian shop in the city that I like a lot in general...

Speaking of Lent, I just had a fine, sober lunch at home of stuffed peppers, filled with rice with a tomato sauce including anchovis, capers and olives...

A