graphic | ice drinker

Chicago is a paradise for eating food. In addition to rich international cuisine, tasting a local original pizza should be listed as the headline of the plan. Pizza in America is very different from that in Europe. It is totally different from the ingredients and the shape. The unique classic food is called "Chicago-style deep dish stuffed pizza"-Chicago deep dish pizza. As an urban legend, it has been paid attention to as "Best Pizza in the City", "Best Pizza in America" and "Best Pizza in America".

Of course, the word "BEST" has been widely used in the United States. From the president's "We are the Best" to the streets and alleys, my own melons are the sweetest. I have seen the Best Chocolate in almost every city, but it is far from the Best in my mind. It seems that Best is no longer an adjective, but a part of a noun, and it is properly stuck on every signboard like a sticky note.

I hate blindly following the trend, but anything that everyone likes is not nutritious and unique. Therefore, when an enthusiastic American cheerfully recommended me to eat Best Pizza, my heart was repelled, and my brain questioned it before I ate it. It's not that there is anything wrong with the food, but that everything in America is Best, and I have lost my judgment.

In fact, the best way to recommend a food is not to add any adjectives, to be realistic, to imagine, and to eat the last one.

Chicago's deep-dish pizza is really famous. To get the most authentic taste, you have to go to Giordano's in 1974, which is said to be the first deep-dish pizza. See its shiny signboard, World Famous is world-famous ... it seems to be louder than Best.

Pizza comes in all sizes, and tastes can be matched according to your own preferences. The selection process is like making multiple-choice questions. First of all, choose your favorite ingredients in the two categories of "vegetables" and "protein", that is, see how you want to combine vegetables and meat. You can add Pepperoni or Salami to form a classic Italian taste, or use chicken, beef and bacon to make it American (it is enough to choose up to five kinds of accessories for vegetables, and you will really be unable to walk if you are greedy). Then pour a layer of Neapolitan red sauce and sprinkle a layer of Mozzarella.

such a huge project is more complicated than any kind of pizza, and the baking time alone has waited for us for nearly 51 minutes.

although I know that the style of Deep Dish is deep dish, I didn't expect the pizza served to be thicker than the pot! If ordinary pizza feels like pancakes, deep-dish pizza is more like pie. Before I started, I felt the heavy weight of this plate, like a red volcano. As it turns out, there are four points to pay attention to when eating "deep-dish pizza":

First, it can't be cut with a wheel knife like ordinary pizza, because it is too thick, and cutting a piece directly with the chef's knife can better protect the shape.

second, it can't be eaten while walking, because there are too many ingredients. I'm afraid this is the only pizza that needs to be cut with a knife and fork. In order to keep eating, napkins should be kept close to your hands. Even so, you will still eat a mouthful of bazi sauce.

Third, pay attention to drawing. One of the characteristics of deep-dish pizza is the Mozzarella cheese, which is full of weight, enough to pull out the height of a book! As a big landscape, I have to sigh that the full heat is a bit scary.

4. Going on an empty stomach, M and I bumped all the way to Chicago. On an empty stomach, as the first meal, we ordered the smallest size, and we shared it ... or we packed the rest.

If I have to use "superlative" grammar to decorate it, I may not choose Best, because Biggest, Highest and Heaviest are more appropriate.

Nutella is also called "Nengduoyi" hazelnut chocolate sauce. Although the sweet food is not healthy, almost everyone loves it, and children to adults can't bear to refuse it, because there are 1,111 ways to eat it for 1,111 readers. In addition to conservatives such as baking bread and cookies, there are also innovators such as making coffee and stirring milkshakes, and there are even more anti-fate factions such as "being able to do more" with grilled bacon, which is a bit enjoyable, but I can't bear to look straight.

It's a waste of resources not to use the ingredients of such a versatile person to make some market effects. After all, even the word of mouth is ready-made. Last summer, Chicago smelled this business opportunity and opened the first Nutella Cafe in the United States, a theme restaurant that only relied on "energy and benefits".

People often make a fuss about a familiar thing, either nobody cares about it or it becomes an instant hit. In fact, it's the latter. When I go to July, my business is still booming, and I can't sit inside and outside. I can't figure it out after joining in the fun. Obviously, every kitchen has a can of "Nengduoyi". Obviously, the guests who are waiting in line have been sitting at their own tables and wiping their toast with "Nengduoyi" for 365 days every morning. Obviously, the taste can be imagined, but they are still pilgrimage, sitting in the store and eating with sauce. By analogy, what if you open a Laoganma theme restaurant in China? I can't even judge success or failure.

Of course, there will be new tricks in the store that you can't operate at home, such as chocolate "hot pot". If we go there for dinner, we may have to run all night before we can consume the calories. On balance, we still have to eat, but we decided to eat Brunch during the day and then go on the road after eating, which also made up for most of the energy.

once, I imagined that I could watch a movie while lying down in the cinema, but I really didn't expect to watch a movie while eating. It was a serious meal. There is a movie theater in the United States called AMC Dine-in theatre with the slogan "It's a movie theater and restaurant rolled into one! "In short, it is the kind where cinemas and restaurants are combined. It's not just a simple snack like popcorn or coke, but a Full Service with menu, service and wine ordering! Enjoy a full set of meals.

every seat has its own dining board, and there are buttons at hand to call for service at any time. When you sit there for the first time, it feels like … it's like flying, but it's just first class treatment, because the seat can be completely laid down for you to lie down and watch! It is also worth mentioning that a bottle of ketchup and yellow mustard comes standard next to each seat ... very American.

I remember watching Fantastic Beasts in Chicago at that time, so that all beer, skittles and skittles can be solved in the same place at the same time. The old beauty is lazy to the extreme. I really admire it. The world is really created by lazy people. In the future, we don't have to discuss whether to eat first or watch a movie first. Eat first? It's too early for dinner. Why don't you watch it first? I'll be hungry soon ... Let's eat and watch. How worry-free and efficient.

This bag of popcorn is different from the derivatives in the cinema. It has its own independent brand, exclusive shops and unrepeatable taste. It is the popcorn -Garrett Popcorn born in Chicago.

I always have a natural awe of the store that only makes one kind of food for decades. I respect its persistence from generation to generation and fear its timeless appearance. What power has supported a simple ingredient to go through the changes of the times, but it can still satisfy the picky taste buds of modern people?

If this sushi stick to Jiro Jiro, I can understand that even though the palm-sized hall under the Ginza subway station is still hard to find, how many craftsmen like Jiro Ono can there be in the world? Moreover, some ingredients, such as sushi, may have their own profound cultural heritage, which is worthy of dedication to the craftsman spirit, because it not only completes the food, but also makes the employees themselves. The reason why Jiro Ono is the "God of Sushi" is that simple things are repeated, from selecting the best rice and aquatic products personally to monitoring the temperature of vinegar rice, the length of marinating fish, the strength of massaging octopus and the thickness of sashimi slices. Perhaps, most people may not be sensitive enough to find the subtle "purport", perhaps the choice of high-end sushi is no longer limited, but Jiro Ono's status as a river and lake has never been shaken. In a sense, sushi has made Jiro Ono.

So I always think that the premise of craftsman spirit is that food itself should be worth exploring, and it is best to be full of interest and culture. But does Garrett popcorn in Chicago have exploratory and cultural essence? Then, this traditional taste, which was born in 1949, has also experienced wind and rain for decades. What is the basis for its vigorous development without culture as the pillar? From the market analysis alone, it is indeed a Niche Market, with narrow and accurate positioning, and Garrett popcorn pays attention to quality from birth (the amount of butter and cheese was not stingy at that time! ) The market is small but preconceived, and it is difficult for future generations to compete. Garrett has thus become the industry leader.

the Garrett popcorn franchise store in Chicago is the center of the city, which is easy to identify, because you can smell the sweet fragrance from a distance, and you can also see the winding queue from a distance. After going in, it is simply a paradise for popcorn. There are salty flavors such as cheese and sweet flavors such as caramel and nuts. You can choose one flavor or mix them freely. In fact, it's delicious to spell it, but it's painful to choose more. The most distinctive sign of their home is Garrett Mix, which is the two flavors of cheddar cheese and caramel.

M and I put together a bag to share. We tasted it with an extremely calm mind, but we still couldn't help but feel excited about the delicious food. Obviously, two people should buy two bags! It's just that eating popcorn can't be stopped once you catch it. It's more like grabbing it.

I walked through the city center many times, and I watched the people coming in and out smiling. Suddenly I felt that there was no need to analyze the market too much, and the reason was often the simplest one: delicious food.

Garrett popcorn is undoubtedly successful, not only because it conquers people's taste, but also because it represents the city of Chicago, like a dazzling business card. I think so because of an unexpected story.

When I left Chicago and returned to Indiana, Garrett had eaten all the popcorn, but I didn't throw away the paper bag in their house, because I thought the bag was cute and it was just the right time to pick up the odds and ends. When I got home, I got on the elevator of my apartment and met an American girl who didn't know which floor she lived on. At best, she was familiar. We exchanged pleasantries and the girl suddenly laughed: "Did you go to Chicago?"

I'm exhausted from travel and dust, and I can't speak. I just want to throw myself on the bed at once. How do you know that the girl is so surprised that I'm completely stupefied? I thought I didn't put a label on it and I didn't wear a ball suit.

"Garrett, isn't it delicious?" The girl gestured to the paper bag in my hand with her lips.

it suddenly dawned on me that I was struck with a jolt. I didn't care if I carried the bag, and I never thought that a food or brand could be so deeply rooted in people's hearts. It seems that good food can brighten a city and make people you don't know smile at each other.

I found an old photo of Garrett in the last century. What do you think is the reason why a simple food can achieve cross-generational success? It's delicious besides delicious. Market data will be faked, but no matter which era the tongue is not stupid, any city on the tip of the tongue has a lot of articles, think carefully and countless wisdom.

-THE END -

About the city tour of Chicago, the last article is here: Chicago | an urban encounter in reinforced concrete.