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Dogs in CHICAGO???

Posted by golfkat on November 27, 2011
Posted in: Cultures, Food, Travel. Leave a comment
As though only deep dish pizza belongs to Chicago, so does the Chicago hot dog.  I have been partial to the Chicago dog over any other dog, anywhere in the US or world.  Since I am not a fan of deep dish, I am left to be a connoisseur of the hot dog and the Chicago beef sandwich. 
 
The Chicago dog is a Vienna beef style hot dog.  Its distinguishing feature is the bright green pickle relish, almost neon green in color.  Other ingredients include yellow mustard, pickled peppers, tomato wedges, dill pickle spear, and topped off with celery salt.  The bun is an S. Rosen poppy-seed bun.  Chicagoans NEVER put catsup on a Chicago dog.
 
Chicago Style Hot Dog
The distinctly Chicago sandwich is the Chicago beef, known elsewhere as the Italian beef sandwich.  It consists of thinly sliced beef simmered au jus, and served on an Italian roll with sweet peppers.  Another popular item is the Maxwell Street Polish, a grilled or deep-fried kielbasa, topped with grilled onions, yellow mustard, and hot peppers.  A goof place to taste all of these Chicagoland items is Taste of Chicago, held every summer around the 4th of July. 
 
But Chicago is also home to 23 Michelin starred restaurants.  Alinea and L20 have garnered THREE stars.  Lately, even vegetarian places are becoming the vogue.  Chicago is known for its great steak houses, as well as a plethora of rib joints.   
 
Chicago has many claims to fame.  The Chicago dog claims to relieve depression felt when one’s team loses.  As proof, consider the loveable losers, the Chicago Cubs.  They have not won since forever, and Chicago is still a pretty upbeat city.  However, the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved this indication on the package details.
 
As far as the origin of the Frankfurter, several places claim the title.  The city of Frankfurt celebrated the 500th birthday of the frank in 1987. It was strongly protested by the folks from Vienna.  But the frank does not become a hot dog until the bun is added.  Charles Feltman, a German butcher, opened the first Coney Island hot dog stand in 1867.  He sold 3,684 in his first year, and is generally credited with the “warm bun”.  Vienna Beef of Chicago claims the “Chicago style dog” became a reality in 1893 at the Chicago World’s Fair.
 
My two favorite places for hot dogs in the City are Hot Doug’s and Portillo’s.  Portillo’s actually has two locations in Southern California.  Owner and founder Dick Portillo opened his first hot dog stand in a trailer back in 1963.  They even have a drive-thru window for take out orders.  Portillo’s also serves Italian beef, hamburgers, sandwiches, pasta and salad.  I always make sure I stop here at least once every time I visit Chicago.
 
Hot Doug’s has been featured on the Travel Channel.  He calls his place the “Sausage Superstore and Encased Meat Emporium”.  Some of his creations include Duck Sausage with Apple Mustard, Beef and Lamb Gyro Sausage with Artichoke, Kalamata Olives, and Feta Cheese, White Wine and Dijon Rabbit Sausage with Sauce Moutarde and Tilsiter Cheese.  Hot Doug’s won a 2006 Good Eating Award from the Chicago Tribune.  Doug Sohn, the owner, was even involved in a foie gras controversy opposing Charlie Trotter and Alderman Joe Moore.  He even made a celebrity hot dog with foie gras and called it the Joe Moore. 
 
 Hot Doug’s Alligator, Snake, Foie Gras, and Lamb Sausages with Duck Fat Fries
 
 
Just in case I need dessert after, I plan on stopping by at Garrett’s Popcorn, another Chicago institution.  After walking around the city all day, I think I deserve a least a small bag of their famous “mix”.  It consists of half of their great caramel corn, and half of their equally great cheddar popcorn.  Besides several joints in downtown Chicago, there is a small outlet at O’Hare International Airport, in the United Terminal B.  Any time I change planes at O’Hare, I buy some popcorn for the ride home.
 
For the record, I had the Chicago Italian beef sandwich last night, followed by a small cup of Portillo’s frozen custard.  Then a short walk to Garrett’s for a small bag of the famous Chicago Mix, half cheddar and half caramel.  Eat your hearts out you wedgies!

Classical Roots

Posted by golfkat on November 4, 2011
Posted in: Cultures, Music. Leave a comment
 
It is hardly a secret that many of the popular music stars of today started with classical music training.  But did you know many of today’s songs originated from some of the very music that was written back in the Baroque and post Baroque era?  Today’s program at Davies Hall with the San Francisco Symphony contains both Beethoven and Haydn.  I consider Haydn to be the most creative composer.
 
Among the most inventive creators in the musical universe was Haydn–father of the symphony and string quartet. He used clarinets symphonically for the first time in his Symphony No. 99, in his continuing quest to evolve musical language. More than 200 years later, French composer Henri Dutilleux appears a kindred spirit in aural exploration. His mysterious and gripping violin concerto L’Arbre des songes brims with deeply expressive gestures befitting its translated name: The Tree of Dreams. (from SFS website)
 
Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, then an independent electorate, and baptized there on December 17, 1770. He died in Vienna on March 26, 1827. He wrote the Symphony No. 8 in 1811-12. The fair copy is dated October 1812. He conducted the first performance on February 27, 1814, in Vienna. The first North American performance was given at the Apollo Rooms, New York, by the New York Philharmonic under George Loder on November 16, 1844. Henry Hadley led the first San Francisco Symphony performance in February 1913; the most recent performances, in October 2009, were given under the direction of Osmo Vänskä. The score calls for two each of flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons, horns, and trumpets, with timpani and strings. Duration: about twenty-seven minutes.
 
Henri Dutilleux was born in Angers, France, on January 22, 1916, and currently resides in Paris. L’Arbre des songes (The Tree of Dreams) was commissioned by Radio France for Isaac Stern, to whom the concerto is dedicated. The first performance was given on November 5, 1985, in Paris by the Orchestre National de France, with the dedicatee as soloist and Lorin Maazel conducting. The US premiere took place on March 25, 1986 in New York with Stern and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra led by Charles Dutoit. The first and only previous performances by the San Francisco Symphony were given in April 1988, with Stern as soloist and Günther Herbig conducting. The work is scored for two flutes and piccolo, three oboes (one doubling oboe d’amore), clarinet in E-flat, two clarinets in A, bass clarinet, two bassoons and contrabassoon, three horns, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, two suspended cymbals (high and medium), two tam-tams (one large and one medium), crotales, tubular bells, glockenspiel, vibraphone, three bongos, three tom-toms, snare drum, cimbalom, piano, celesta, harp, and strings. Duration: about twenty-four minutes.

 
 Franz Joseph Haydn

 
Franz Joseph Haydn was born in Rohrau, Lower Austria, almost certainly on March 31, 1732—he was baptized on April 1—and died in Vienna on May 31, 1809. He composed his Symphony No. 99 in 1793 for performance during his second trip to England, and he led its premiere (from the keyboard) at the King’s Theatre in London on February 17, 1794. It’s first North American performance took place on November 17, 1870, when Carl Zerrahn conducted it with the orchestra of the Harvard Musical Association at Boston’s Music Hall. William Steinberg conducted the first San Francisco Symphony performances in January 1949; it was performed here most recently in January 2006 under the direction of Mark Wigglesworth. The work is scored for two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets, timpani, and strings. Duration: about twenty minutes.
 
Please excuse my laziness in rewriting these bios, but I thought these were rather succinct and exceptional.
 
    
Back to the point I made in the first paragraph.  Mack the Knife was the record of the year back in 1959.  It was recorded by none other than Bobby Darin.  Beethoven penned his “Eroica” symphony for Napoleon.  But decades later, Bobby Darin popularized the melody as “Mack the Knife.”  Dick Clark even advised Bobby not to record the song since it sounded like an opera, and would not appeal to rock and rollers.  The hated Simon Cowell thinks Mack the Knife is the best song ever written.  Even Sinatra sang this as a duet with Jimmy Buffett.  Louis Armstrong recorded it in 1954, a full four years before Darin’s famous recording.  It has since been performed and recorded by an impressive list of musicians.
 
Here it is:
 
      Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth, dear
      And it shows them pearly white
      Just a jackknife has old MacHeath, babe
      And he keeps it … ah … out of sight.
 
      Ya know when that shark bites, with his teeth, babe
      Scarlet billows start to spread
      Fancy gloves, though, wears old MacHeath, babe
      So there’s nevah, nevah a trace of red.
 
      Now on the sidewalk … uuh, huh … whoo … sunny mornin’ … uuh, huh
      Lies a body just oozin' life … eeek!
      And someone’s sneakin' ‘round the corner
      Could that someone be Mack the Knife?
 
      A-there's a tugboat … huh, huh, huh … down by the river don’tcha know
      Where a cement bag’s just a'droopin' on down
      Oh, that cement is just, it's there for the weight, dear
      Five'll get ya ten old Macky’s back in town.
 
      Now, d'ja hear ‘bout Louie Miller? He disappeared, babe
      After drawin' out all his hard-earned cash
      And now MacHeath spends just like a sailor
      Could it be our boy's done somethin' rash?
 
 
      Now … Jenny Diver … ho, ho … yeah … Sukey Tawdry       
      Ooh … Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown 
      Oh, the line forms on the right, babe
      Now that Macky’s back in town.
 
      Aah … I said Jenny Diver … whoa … Sukey Tawdry
      Look out to Miss Lotte Lenya and old Lucy Brown
      Yes, that line forms on the right, babe
      Now that Macky’s back in town …

      Look out … old Macky is back!!