Why The Sweet Steak Is The “Most Chicago” Sandwich

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2021

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Though little known on the North Side of Chicago, the sweet steak has been attracting long lines of fans to South Side eateries for 50 years now. The sandwich starts with a steamed bun, piled high with grilled onions, chopped ribeye steak, American cheese, sweet pepper relish, sliced tomatoes and hot peppers — all doused in a signature reddish sweet sauce. Curious City’s Monica Eng digs into the origins of the sandwich and what’s in store for the future. Hint: it has to do with walnuts.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Curious City reporter Monica Eng.
0:05.2	And as we close out the final days of Black History Month, we're going to bring you a story
0:09.5	of black food history from right here in Chicago.
0:13.0	It's the story of a sandwich.
0:14.6	It's chopped real by, real onions, the cheese, sauce that we make ourselves, and the sweet peppers, hot peppers, and tomatoes.
0:22.9	A sandwich that people will travel miles to get and wait in long lines to eat.
0:28.4	I really enjoy it with sweet or hot peppers on it.
0:31.9	A sandwich that gets folks super riled up about who does it best.
0:36.4	I mean, it's as big of a divide as the Cubs and the White Sox.
0:40.1	Maybe you already know the sandwich I'm talking about,
0:42.8	but maybe you've been missing out this whole time.
0:45.8	Either way, it's a sandwich that deserves more attention.
0:49.6	That story's coming up.
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1:33.6	Garbage in New York, that was like a controlled substance.
	...

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