If you’re from the Chicago area, then chances are you have a favorite Italian Beef Sandwich spot. The arguments can get heated over who has the best Beef in the city. Are you a fan of Portillo’s? Al’s? Or one of the many other restaurants that serve this regional favorite. Then there is the questionContinue reading “Regional Foods: Italian Beef Sandwich”
Author Archives: Matt Ensminger
Meaningful Foods: Wine
Today when you see alcohol commercials on TV, the main images they show are people having a good time, relaxing and being social. But some alcohol’s have different connotations tied to them. Wine is perceived as more of a “high end” alcohol than beer or vodka. This is, in part because of the history ofContinue reading “Meaningful Foods: Wine”
Trick-or-Treat!: Food Traditions Surrounding Halloween and Samhain
Halloween brings back memories of excitement about Trick-or-Treating and dressing up as the scariest thing I could think of that year and seeing the costumes of my friends. How, as we got older, we would ride our bikes to different subdivisions that had “the good candy” and playing pranks on my friends to scare them.Continue reading “Trick-or-Treat!: Food Traditions Surrounding Halloween and Samhain”
Food as a Gateway for Culture
Ever since I was a kid I have always loved food. But more than that, I have always wanted to try food that was completely new to me. On family vacations, when we would go out to a restaurant to eat, I would pick out the weirdest thing on the menu and try it. IContinue reading “Food as a Gateway for Culture”
Regional Foods: Barbeque
One of the great things about summertime is getting together with family and friends on a sunny day and grilling up some meats. In the United States, this is usually done on summer holidays like Independence Day and Labor Day, or during exceptionally nice weekends. A barbeque can refer to both the gathering of peopleContinue reading “Regional Foods: Barbeque”
Meaningful Foods: Breadfruit
One afternoon, as I was relaxing on my day off, I received a very emphatic text from one of my work friends. We had been developing a menu based off foods that usually aren’t found in American restaurants. He told me that one of our other coworkers, who is Jamaican, told him about this fruitContinue reading “Meaningful Foods: Breadfruit”
Regional Foods: Oxtail Stew
When trying to decide what to write about this week, I had a hard time picking a topic. With the protests going on calling for police reform and justice for centuries of racism and discrimination against the black community, writing a blog about food seemed….insignificant. But as I always try to do here on TheContinue reading “Regional Foods: Oxtail Stew”
Cooking and Gardening: The Dynamic Duo
When I was in college, I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to study. I started out in biology, but after a few semesters lost interest. The actual classes on biology I loved, but the other classes I had to take like Chemistry and Physics, I had a hard time caring about. IContinue reading “Cooking and Gardening: The Dynamic Duo”
Regional Foods: Clam Chowder
One of the first dishes I think of when I think of East Coast cuisine is clam chowder. Being from the Midwest, the only kinds I know are New England clam chowder and Manhattan clam chowder. But after researching the topic, I found that there are many more varieties of it that I hadn’t heardContinue reading “Regional Foods: Clam Chowder”
Meaningful Foods: Kava Root
How do you relax after a long day? Do you come home, kick back, crack open a beer and watch your favorite reality TV show? Do you cook with your family and socialize around the dinner table? We all have our own rituals that we perform when we are looking to relax. This week inContinue reading “Meaningful Foods: Kava Root”
The Cultural Chef 