INTO THE DIP.
The past few weeks in the Food For Thought class have been very interesting. I learned about interacting with plants in a way that I haven’t thought of before, like asking for their permission before picking them, and treating them almost like people. I learned about edible plants in Chicago that I can forage, and how they can be used. Some just make good tea, some can make those white bumps that aren’t pimples go away, and some can even be used to prevent or cause miscarriages. We went to a rooftop garden/farm at Uncommon Ground, which is a restaurant on the north side, where they grow some of their own food. Anyway, I’m about to compare to you an Italian beef dipped sandwich that I ate at a restaurant, and then made with the help of my mother to see which one is better. Surprisingly I was dissatisfied by the portillo’s version of the Italian beef dipped sandwich, because usually portillos are a really good restaurant.
After eating the sandwich at a restaurant and being let down, I was sure I could do better at home. The homemade version of the sandwich had a good flavor to it. Sort of hard to describe with words, the dip tastes sort of like a concentrated bread juice when not with any food. Chewing the sandwich sounded not unlike the sound of boots walking on mud. It wasn't as wet as the restaurant sandwich, because we didn’t have a big enough pan to fully dip it, meaning the homemade one was more comfortable to hold. I liked this one more than the restaurant one, the restaurant one did NOT have any vegetables on it, but the homemade one did, which made it more piquant.
Here’s a picture of the sandwich we made:
But a couple days before I made the Italian beef dipped sandwich at home, I ate one at a portillo's restaurant near Bloomington, Illinois. I was already disappointed when it arrived at the table, for they were out of chocolate cake milkshakes. Important detail: we used different types of bread, I sort of preferred theirs because the one we used at home was a little bit drier. My sandwich arrived, and it was in a plastic bag, then a paper wrap, then a really wet paper wrap, and then it was before me, my sandwich. It was wet with its own juice, as that was how I ordered it. The sandwich smelled oily, and it wasn't chewy, it didn’t resist at all. I couldn’t tell how the sandwich sounded over the music and talking in the restraunt. Before I added some sauces from the little packets they had, it tasted boring, as unseasoned meat usually does. I wasn’t disappointed by the sandwich, but it wasn't that good. I lost interest in eating by the time there were two bites left. I didn’t get a video or picture on it, but this is exactly what it looked like:
You’ll notice how the meat looks less colorful and juicy than the homemade sandwich, and how there’s no vegetables in the restaurant sandwich.
Mind you, the bread in that photo doesn't just look strange, it’s wet.
In conclusion, I preferred the homemade Italian beef dipped sandwich because it pulled more of its own weight and the taste was actually improved because of the dip, while the restaurant one was just wet because of the dip, and didn’t really taste like anything, the sandwich wasn't flavorful. The meat on the homemade sandwich was juicy, while the restaurant sandwich’s meat felt much more dry. I would recommend it because it was only ten dollars and fed four people. While the restaurant seemed to put quantity first(i can't blame them, it was a busy day when i went there) , i feel like the homemade one was more quality oriented, however they both felt industrially made to their own degrees. They both felt like they came from a restaurant, the homemade one just tasted like it had more care and time put into it, probably because it did. I feel like the portillo’s Italian beef dipped would’ve been better if they weren’t having a really busy day when I ordered, but there’s nothing I can really do about that. Also, I ordered at a different portillo’s than the one I usually go to at the restaurant near the rock n’ roll McDonald’s.
Sources:
https://goo.gl/maps/egBfZh6F7nxiwKN58
^the portillos i went too
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