Where have you had Chicago-style? This is a crucial question.
Uno's is my primary source, but I don't count that.
I've had home-made varieties before.
I've had no fewer than 6 layovers between O'Hare and Midway, though I question the authenticity of airport pizza. Still, it seemed to be legit.
So, basically, I haven't had a "proper" Chicago-style pizza, from the city itself. I've had "export" Chicago-style pizza. The experiences I've had have lead me to believe that it's not really something that's going to be better enough for me to care about.
EDIT: Red hots are nothing special. And I went to school in fucking Rochester. I know a thing or two about hots. You want to impress me with sausage, make some bratwurst. That's right, MAKE some bratwurst. Then we can talk about whose sausage is truly superior.
Homemade is the suck (ovens aren't hot enough, recipes aren't the same, weak pans, etc.), and all airport pizza in Chicago is a sham. Uno franchised the name but not the recipe long, long ago, and that's why they have those shitty little airport places with "original Chicago pizza.". To get a real Chicago pizza, you've got to go into the city, to one of the originals. Do not be fooled by Giordano's; their quality is lacking. Lou Malnatti's cheese is too runny. Go to either Gino's East or the original Pizzeria Uno, or its sister, Due. There you will taste greatness. The difference between airport Uno or export Pizza (even as far as two hours south of the city, in Champaign, the "Chicago-style" is bullshit) and Gino's/Original Uno/Due in the city is the difference between a frozen Tombstone and an NYC slice from a proper coal-fired oven. Come to Chicago, keep an open mind. I'll show you that the difference is worth caring about.
We can talk about sausages, too. I grew up with Hot Doug's and over a century of Polish, Italian, Spanish, and American sausage culture. Maxwell Street Polish? Us. Vienna Beef? Us. I'll agree that red hots are nothing special, which is why we made them special. Stephen Colbert has paid homage to the Wiener Circle's Frencheesy on The Colbert Report. Hot Doug's stuffs casings with foie gras. And don't even get me fucking started on that other Chicago-original apotheosis of beef cast-offs: Italian Beef sandwiches.
I'd be interested in making brats, but being Spanish, my interests lean more toward curing ham. Which is why I'm designing a smokehouse and curing shed for my uncle's property in Wisconsin. Aww yeah.
I'd be interested in making brats, but being Spanish, my interests lean more toward curing ham. Which is why I'm designing a smokehouse and curing shed for my uncle's property in Wisconsin. Aww yeah.
I hope you can get your hands on some jamón ibérico.
I'd be interested in making brats, but being Spanish, my interests lean more toward curing ham. Which is why I'm designing a smokehouse and curing shed for my uncle's property in Wisconsin. Aww yeah.
I hope you can get your hands on some jamón ibérico.
Importing those pigs would be illegal (protected origin laws), incredibly expensive, or both. Also, true pata negra is absurdly expensive, at somewhere around three times the cost per kilo of comparable jamón Serrano. Better to get a nice long-cure Serrano and get a heap of it than to get a few slices of jamón ibérico unless it's a special occasion (Christmas is pata negra season).
That being said, pata negra is arguably the perfect ham. There is no ham product I have ever had in my life that is better than pata negra; it is the platonic form of hams.
My next meat processing goal is to get a functional salami drying cabinet in place. Essentially, I need an enclosed (but not airtight) cabinet with humidity and temperature controls. It's not hard to do, but it takes a small investment and more space than I want to dedicate to that right now.
A friend of mine has a small attached shed. I was thinking of using it as brewing space, but I'm still leaning towards ham curing.
After the salami cabinet, I'm thinking of going all-out and making prosciutto. I may start with something less time-intensive, like country ham.
EDIT: This is why we're fat. I mean as a country, not just personally.
Well, I don't know that they have the culture of excess that we do. The "big Italian meals" thing is really Italian-American.
It extends to Spanish-Americans, too. I'm willing to bet George would give us similar input about the Greco-Americans. Perhaps it's just a Mediterranean-American thing.
Well, I don't know that they have the culture of excess that we do. The "big Italian meals" thing is really Italian-American.
It extends to Spanish-Americans, too. I'm willing to bet George would give us similar input about the Greco-Americans. Perhaps it's just a Mediterranean-American thing.
Well, the Greeks and Spaniards have much higher obesity rates than Italians.
It's pretty much that "[ethnicity]-American" cuisine really means "let's make portions 3 times bigger than they ought to be."
Well, I don't know that they have the culture of excess that we do. The "big Italian meals" thing is really Italian-American.
It extends to Spanish-Americans, too. I'm willing to bet George would give us similar input about the Greco-Americans. Perhaps it's just a Mediterranean-American thing.
We likea the big meals. Also, my grand parents and my greek friend's parents are always trying to feed me because I'm "skin and bones."
See, that sounds like a garbage plate I could get behind. I might have to try that recipe, myself.
EDIT: George, you and me both. I've really cut down meat, and started cooking the weediest weeds I can find (kale, swiss chard, etc rather than broccoli, zucchini).
I would contend that the best single meal is pasta w/ zucchini and pancetta, though.
Also, god damn, when do the Italians have time to cook a meal with multiple courses?
It's about learning to stagger cook times. I worked it out during Christmas once; makes three courses a fucking joke.
This. Done properly, it's really not that hard. Also, this is a culture that values leisure time. Remember, Europeans take way more relaxation time than Americans do. We're crazy people who don't take vacations and stuff.
The Italians, on average, have 40 work days off per year (not counting weekends). Americans, on average, have around 15.
EDIT: I'm also willing to bet that there is a strong correlation between more paid leave time and lower rates of obesity. If you have more free time to actually relax and enjoy yourself, you're less likely to get into the mindset of "I DON'T HAVE TIME TO COOK," and thus less likely to turn to fast food and other convenience items. You can also use that time off to be active.
We're crazy people who don't take vacations and stuff.
Meaning YOU. Mr. zillion vacation days you never use. I use every single day available, but there just aren't enough of them.
I'm learning how to take days off. I just sold 6 vacation days to get a $1000 credit towards my health insurance premium, and I'm taking off every day between December 23rd and January 10th.
And more days after that, too. I'm learning how to vacation.
Of course, I'd be much more inclined to vacation if I had the money to go places. If I could swing a trip to Iceland, fuck all y'all, I'd be there for a month.
EDIT: Of course, the state just docked us 9 days of pay and gave us 9 days of vacation in return. So now I have the same problem again - too much vacation time.
We're crazy people who don't take vacations and stuff.
Meaning YOU. Mr. zillion vacation days you never use. I use every single day available, but there just aren't enough of them.
He mean us Scott. Pete by choice and you and I by company rules. And Pete doesn't get that many vacation days, maybe 20 a year, he just doesn't use them and has a high cap.
We're crazy people who don't take vacations and stuff.
Meaning YOU. Mr. zillion vacation days you never use. I use every single day available, but there just aren't enough of them.
He mean us Scott. Pete by choice and you and I by company rules. And Pete doesn't get that many vacation days, maybe 20 a year, he just doesn't use them and has a high cap.
Well, actually, no, I get shit fuck tons of leave time (relative to the rest of the US). 13 days per year (3.75 hours per pay period), plus 5 personal days, plus 10 fixed holidays and 2 floating holidays.
You also get 1 bonus day per year you've been with civil service, until you hit 7 years. At your 7th year, you just start accruing vacation time at a greater rate: 5.75 hours per pay period. The net effect is that you gradually move from 13 vacation days per year to 20 per year.
Your vacation cap is 40 days, so you can only accrue so much. You can go over the cap, provided you get back down below it by your anniversary date.
This is not counting my sick leave, by the way, which accrues at the same rate as vacation but never ever expires. Right now, I have 556 hours of sick leave, on top of my nearly 300 hours of other leave time.
No, really, I get plenty of leave. I just don't use it.
40 days of paid leave for every employee every year. Almost every major federal holiday off. MLK day yes, Columbus day no. Infinity sick days, if you are legitimately sick. No need for personal days because a day off is a day off. Funerals, jury duty, pa/maternity gives you as many paid days off as is necessary. These are all required days off. If we get to the end of the cycle, and there are days you haven't used, we kick your ass out of the office. You will not be permitted to work.
Even on work days, you don't have to actually come to work unless there is something that specifically requires you to be there, such as a meeting or appointment. There are no working hours except nobody will be permitted to be in the office for more than eight hours in a 24 hour period. As long as all the work is done on time and meets or exceeds reasonable and clearly defined expectations, you can do as you please from home, the beach, or the toilet.
This will lower margins, and will mean we need to hire more employees. That's fine. If we can't afford to to business with decent working conditions, then we can't afford to do business period.
While that is a worthy goal Scott, I'm not sure if your business of taking vacations is a valid strategy to make a profit.
I'll settle for less profits as long as there is at least $1 of profit. Also, people will be paid less than at other similar places, but not that much less.
EDIT: Of course, the state just docked us 9 days of pay and gave us 9 days of vacation in return. So now I have the same problem again - too much vacation time.
Take more days off to come down here for extended weekends.
EDIT: Of course, the state just docked us 9 days of pay and gave us 9 days of vacation in return. So now I have the same problem again - too much vacation time.
Take more days off to come down here for extended weekends.
EDIT: Of course, the state just docked us 9 days of pay and gave us 9 days of vacation in return. So now I have the same problem again - too much vacation time.
Take more days off to come down here for extended weekends.
You need to learn the art of the 3 day weekend.
It honestly takes me 2 days just to unwind. The first few days at Pennsic over the summer, I checked my phone several times a day for messages from work. By day 4, all of my fucks had been given, and I could actually relax.
Comments
We can talk about sausages, too. I grew up with Hot Doug's and over a century of Polish, Italian, Spanish, and American sausage culture. Maxwell Street Polish? Us. Vienna Beef? Us. I'll agree that red hots are nothing special, which is why we made them special. Stephen Colbert has paid homage to the Wiener Circle's Frencheesy on The Colbert Report. Hot Doug's stuffs casings with foie gras. And don't even get me fucking started on that other Chicago-original apotheosis of beef cast-offs: Italian Beef sandwiches.
I'd be interested in making brats, but being Spanish, my interests lean more toward curing ham. Which is why I'm designing a smokehouse and curing shed for my uncle's property in Wisconsin. Aww yeah.
That being said, pata negra is arguably the perfect ham. There is no ham product I have ever had in my life that is better than pata negra; it is the platonic form of hams.
A friend of mine has a small attached shed. I was thinking of using it as brewing space, but I'm still leaning towards ham curing.
After the salami cabinet, I'm thinking of going all-out and making prosciutto. I may start with something less time-intensive, like country ham.
EDIT: This is why we're fat. I mean as a country, not just personally.
It's pretty much that "[ethnicity]-American" cuisine really means "let's make portions 3 times bigger than they ought to be."
EDIT: George, you and me both. I've really cut down meat, and started cooking the weediest weeds I can find (kale, swiss chard, etc rather than broccoli, zucchini).
I would contend that the best single meal is pasta w/ zucchini and pancetta, though.
The Italians, on average, have 40 work days off per year (not counting weekends). Americans, on average, have around 15.
EDIT: I'm also willing to bet that there is a strong correlation between more paid leave time and lower rates of obesity. If you have more free time to actually relax and enjoy yourself, you're less likely to get into the mindset of "I DON'T HAVE TIME TO COOK," and thus less likely to turn to fast food and other convenience items. You can also use that time off to be active.
And more days after that, too. I'm learning how to vacation.
Of course, I'd be much more inclined to vacation if I had the money to go places. If I could swing a trip to Iceland, fuck all y'all, I'd be there for a month.
EDIT: Of course, the state just docked us 9 days of pay and gave us 9 days of vacation in return. So now I have the same problem again - too much vacation time.
You also get 1 bonus day per year you've been with civil service, until you hit 7 years. At your 7th year, you just start accruing vacation time at a greater rate: 5.75 hours per pay period. The net effect is that you gradually move from 13 vacation days per year to 20 per year.
Your vacation cap is 40 days, so you can only accrue so much. You can go over the cap, provided you get back down below it by your anniversary date.
This is not counting my sick leave, by the way, which accrues at the same rate as vacation but never ever expires. Right now, I have 556 hours of sick leave, on top of my nearly 300 hours of other leave time.
No, really, I get plenty of leave. I just don't use it.
40 days of paid leave for every employee every year. Almost every major federal holiday off. MLK day yes, Columbus day no. Infinity sick days, if you are legitimately sick. No need for personal days because a day off is a day off. Funerals, jury duty, pa/maternity gives you as many paid days off as is necessary. These are all required days off. If we get to the end of the cycle, and there are days you haven't used, we kick your ass out of the office. You will not be permitted to work.
Even on work days, you don't have to actually come to work unless there is something that specifically requires you to be there, such as a meeting or appointment. There are no working hours except nobody will be permitted to be in the office for more than eight hours in a 24 hour period. As long as all the work is done on time and meets or exceeds reasonable and clearly defined expectations, you can do as you please from home, the beach, or the toilet.
This will lower margins, and will mean we need to hire more employees. That's fine. If we can't afford to to business with decent working conditions, then we can't afford to do business period.