The Chicago Food Encyclopedia, which was released last month, quite literally details the A to Z of food in our city, beginning with Grant Achatz, one of the most famous chefs on the planet, and ending with zebra mussels, an invasive species that arrived in the 1980s and that you definitely shouldn’t eat because “they contain so many pollutants.”
The enormous project contains 375 detailed entries, necessitating three editors — Carol Mighton Haddix, Bruce Kraig and Colleen Taylor Sen — and roughly 3 1/2 years of work. Not to mention the 74 different contributors who helped out, including some well-known local writers, like Craig “Meathead” Goldwyn, Jennifer Olvera, Monica Eng, Mike Sula and a number of Tribune writers. Yet, the first thing Haddix admits to me over the phone? “It’s not enough,” says Haddix. “We keep finding new things.”
Haddix served as the editor of the Food section at the Chicago Tribune for more than 30 years, so she acknowledges that she already knew quite a bit about the culinary history of Chicago, though loads of little facts surprised her. “I had no idea that malted milkshakes were invented here,” says Haddix, “or that the history of shrimp de Jonghe goes back to two Belgian brothers who opened a hotel. Of course, you can’t lose with butter, shrimp and breadcrumbs.”
The book also devotes a decent amount of space to the legacy of industrial food production, making the claim early on that Chicago’s explosive growth in the 19th century was actually a result of being the “national center for the processing and shipping of agricultural products.” That means there’s a lot of discussion of Kraft Foods, McDonald’s and Tootsie Rolls.
While giving details on the impressive number of jobs provided by the Union Stock Yards (45,000 in 1919), the book also chronicles the violent labor disputes and devastating pollution. Bubbly Creek, “a currentless arm of the South Branch of the Chicago River” that would became a “notorious repository for wastes,” is remembered this way: “The creek never froze, but sometimes it would burn.”
Which is a way of saying that the book provides a truly balanced look at Chicago’s food history, mentioning both the success of Green City Market and the horrors captured in Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.”
And, yes, you’ll also find well-researched passages on Chicago’s most iconic foods. “We tried to not talk too much about hot dogs and pizza, but we have to put them in there,” says Haddix. The book is packed with entries on other, lesser-known delicacies like the gym shoe and the pepper and egg sandwich.
If you have any suggestions about missing items, Haddix would love to hear them. The team is already talking about a second edition. “We have a folder on Google Docs already created to add and things to change,” she says. “Restaurants close, and we need to keep on top of it.”
Book events
Editors of The Chicago Food Encyclopedia (University of Illinois Press, $34.95) will appear at these upcoming events:
The Book Cellar
Haddix, Kraig, and Taylor Sen will participate in a panel discussion moderated by WBEZ’s Monica Eng. 7 p.m. Sept. 28; 4736 N. Lincoln Ave.
Read It & Eat
The editors will participate in a panel discussion; 2 p.m. Nov 4; 2142 N. Halsted St.
Prairie Path Books
A book talk with the editors. 10 a.m. Nov. 25; 302 E. Wesley St., Wheaton.
Bookends & Beginnings
The editors will participate in a panel discussion. 5 p.m. Nov 25; 1712 Sherman Ave., Evanston.
nkindelsperger@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @nickdk
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