American Palate

As immigrants came from outside the United States and settled in pockets around Chicago, each neighborhood had its own bakery--and sometimes several. At one time, more than seven thousand bakeries dotted the city streets. Stalwarts like Dinkel's, Roeser's, Weber's, Pticek and Ferrara continue a legacy that shaped Chicago's food traditions: an atomic cake for family celebrations, bacon buns in the morning or a poppy seed bun for hot dogs and pączki and zeppole for holidays. Even the never-ending debate over seeded or unseeded rye. From pioneering bakers to today's cake makers, author Jennifer Billock puts the sweet and doughy history of Chicago on display.

The food that fuels hardworking Chicagoans needs to be hearty, portable and inexpensive. Featuring select stories and recipes, author Amy Bizzarri surveys the delectable landscape of Chicago's homegrown culinary hits.

Enterprising locals transform standard fare into Chicago classics, including Spinning Salad, Flaming Saganaki, Jumpballs, Jim Shoes, Pizza Puffs and Pullman Bread. The restaurants, bakeries, taverns and pushcarts cherished from one generation to the next offer satisfying warmth in winter and sweet refreshment in summer. This timeless balancing act produced icons like the Cape Cod Room's Bookbinder Soup and the Original Rainbow Cone, as well as Andersonville Coffee Cake and Taylor Street's Italian Lemonade.

Long before corner bars stitched the social fabric of Chicago's neighborhoods together, raucous pioneers like Mark Beaubien were fermenting over the untapped potential of the unbroken prairie. Take a determined saunter from the clamor of Chicago's first breweries, through the hidden passages of thousands of speakeasies and then back into the current of the contemporary craft beer revival. Follow a path plastered with portraits of infamous saloonkeepers and profiles of historic bars. Author June Sawyers serves as an expert guide, stopping every so often to collect a vintage beer label, explain an original recipe or salute the heady history that sits atop the City of Big Shoulders.

Discover how the Midwest refined the nation's sweet tooth through a delicious mix of immigrant traditions and American ingenuity.

Chef Jenny Lewis dips a spoon into generations of homemade desserts and examines the inner workings of some of the biggest brands of the baking industry. Learn how to make Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, witness the rise of Red Star Yeast, and plumb the secrets of the Kraft Oil Method, before sitting down to consume an engaging history in which Midwest beet sugar, vanilla cream and evaporated milk are mixed into a narrative of wars, social shifts, and politics. Encounter a rich medley of true stories and irresistible recipes from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana and Michigan in this delightful collection.

The Quad Cities have a rich history of brewing that started with the influx of German citizens in the 1800s. Breweries were established on both sides of the Mississippi River. Some of these historic breweries managed to reopen after Prohibition, but national competition ultimately closed the last of these stalwarts in 1956. In 1989, Iowa created a special class "A" brewpub permit, and the first of many brewpubs in the area, Front Street Pub & Eatery, opened in 1992. Blue Cat Brew Pub, on the Illinois side of the river, opened shortly after. The brewing renaissance has helped to establish the Quad Cities as a craft beer destination. Join authors Michael McCarty and Kristin DeMarr as they celebrate the heady heritage of the region.

In a town famous for its politics, one local favorite moves unchallenged across party lines. Sample secret recipes while delving in to the history of the Horseshoe Sandwich.

Open-faced, piled high with fries and slathered in cheese sauce, the Horseshoe Sandwich has represented Springfield cuisine since 1928. Tour the restaurants that have kept the tradition alive for almost a century, including bygone eateries like The Mill and contemporary stalwarts like Darcy's Pint. From the "Clydesdale Challenge" to the biggest and strangest incarnations of the 'shoe, Carolyn Harmon and Tony Leone provide a comprehensive history of this delicious dish.

Follow the trickle of alcohol through Chicago's history, starting with the town's first three permanent businesses: the Wolf, Green Tree and Eagle Exchange Taverns. Stir together stories from the Peoria Whiskey Trust and the temperance movement. The cocktails that lubricated the Levee District may have set up Chicago's first gangsters, but Prohibition-era bootleggers changed the city's identity forever. Post-Prohibition alcohol helped to create vast fortunes for Chicago-based families and corporations. Enjoy a thoughtful guide to Chicagoland's new wave of small-batch distilleries, which are adding a distinctive note to the city's well-established flavor profile. From the mash in pioneer stills to the Malört in a hipster's shot glass, David Witter explores how liquor has influenced nearly two centuries of Chicago's existence.

Belly up to the bar and take a swig of Chicago's beer history with this new look at the Windy City's best and most historic brews and breweries. Included are Chicago's most prominent and significant craft breweries, with intricate details on history, important personalities and events in the breweries' past, top beers and more.