Category Archives: Chicago Foodways Roundtable

Maxwell Street Walking Tour

Posted on by

Presented by Lori Grove, President, Maxwell Street Foundation

Maxwell Street cul-de-sac
South of Roosevelt Rd., ½ block west of Halsted St.
Chicago, IL

The Maxwell Street Market, created by a city ordinance in 1912, transformed an early residential street into a thriving marketplace for nearly one century in Chicago.  Although its geographic boundaries shifted over time due to urban renewal and expressway construction, the informal bartering on Maxwell Street and discount shopping on Halsted Street remained constant. Continue reading →

A conversation with Chef Ken Hom

Posted on by

Interviewed by Louisa Chu

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

Ken Hom – the Chinese-American chef, television personality, best-selling author, philanthropist, and world traveler – grew up extremely poor in Chicago. He started working at 11 years-old, washing dishes at King Wah restaurant. It was there on Chinatown’s Wentworth Avenue that the owner – a family friend he called his uncle – first taught him to cook. Continue reading →

Learn all about Indian Sweets and Snacks    

Posted on by

Presented by
Mr. Javant Sukhadia

Sukhadia’s
2559 West Devon Avenue
(southeast corner of Devon and Rockwell)

Cost: $5 per person to the restaurant

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

If you’ve been on Devon Avenue lately, you may have noticed the profusion of snack and sweet shops. South Asians love to snack, and the region has one of the world’s great street food traditions. But the sheer variety of savory and sweet dishes, reflecting different regional traditions (North Indian, Gujarati, Bengali, etc.) can be confusing. Continue reading →

FOOD REVOLUTION: HOW THE CIVIL WAR CHANGED FOOD IN AMERICA

Posted on by

 Presented by
Bruce Kraig, PhD

Lake County Discovery Museum
27277 N. Forest Preserve Rd, Wauconda, Illinois
located in Lakewood Forest Preserve
Corner of Route 176 and Fairfield Road
(entrance west of this intersection on 176)

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

How many people know that what we eat today, what we buy in our supermarkets, is the result of a war fought 150 years ago? War is always a catalyst for change, and of all American wars, none changed the country more than the Civil War. Continue reading →

Sweet Home Chicago: Chocolate and Confectionery Production and Technology in the Windy City

Posted on by

Lecture and exhibit tour by Beth Kimmerle,
Exhibit curator and author of  Blommer: An American Chocolate Legacy,

Chocolate: the Sweet History and Candy: the Sweet History

John Crerar Library
The University of Chicago
5730 South Ellis Avenue, Chicago, IL

Podcast courtesy of WBEZ’s Chicago Amplified

Wrigley’s gum, Fannie May chocolate, and Cracker Jack are just some of the confections that have been created and manufactured in Chicago, a major center of candy production in the 20th century. Drawing from items in the substantial cookery collection at the John Crerar Library, this exhibit explores the history of chocolate and confectioners in the city and the science and technology of the candy making process. Continue reading →