The Art of Making Italian Beef Sandwiches: A Chicago Tradition

In the heart of Chicago, there's a secret to making the perfect Italian beef sandwich that's been passed down through generations. It all starts with a special blend of spices and herbs, known as jardinera, which is carefully crafted by a team of experts. This unique seasoning pack is designed to add depth and complexity to the dish, and it's what sets Chicago-style Italian beef apart from other variations.

To make the sandwich, one needs to start with high-quality ingredients. The beef, typically top round or top sirloin, is slow-cooked in a flavorful broth that's been simmered for hours to extract all the tender juices. The meat is then shaved thin and served on a crusty Italian bread, which is specially made to hold up to the generous helping of juicy meat.

One of the key components of an authentic Chicago-style Italian beef sandwich is the use of cheese whiz. This creamy condiment is applied generously to the sandwich, adding a rich and tangy flavor that complements the beef perfectly. Sliced hot peppers are also a staple in many Italian beef sandwiches, adding a spicy kick that cuts through the richness of the cheese.

The bread used for the sandwich is another crucial element in its success. A dense, chewy French bread is typically used, as it's able to hold up to the generous helping of juices and toppings without becoming soggy or falling apart. In Chicago, this bread is often made fresh in-house by local bakeries, using a secret recipe that's been passed down through generations.

Assembling the sandwich requires a bit of finesse, but with practice, anyone can master the technique. The key is to start with a solid foundation of beef and cheese, then add a sprinkle of spices and herbs, followed by a generous helping of sliced hot peppers. The final touch is a dollop of cheese whiz, which adds a creamy, tangy flavor that brings everything together.

The sandwich is typically served on a long, crusty roll, with the meat shaved thin and the toppings arranged in a neat and orderly fashion. It's a beautiful thing to behold, and it's no wonder why Italian beef sandwiches have become a staple of Chicago cuisine.

One can also customize their sandwich by adding or subtracting toppings. Some people prefer to add some diced onions or pickles for extra flavor, while others like to go all out with a generous helping of giardiniera, the spicy pickled vegetable mix that's a hallmark of Chicago-style Italian beef.

As one eats the sandwich, they can't help but notice the sheer variety of flavors and textures at play. The beef is tender and juicy, the cheese whiz adds a rich and creamy element, and the hot peppers bring a spicy kick that wakes up the taste buds. It's a truly satisfying experience, and it's no wonder why Italian beef sandwiches have become a beloved staple of Chicago cuisine.

Throughout the process of making an Italian beef sandwich, one can't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment. From start to finish, the sandwich is a labor of love that requires patience, skill, and attention to detail. And when it's all said and done, there's no denying the delicious result – a mouthwatering sandwich that's sure to satisfy even the most discerning palate.

In Chicago, Italian beef sandwiches are a way of life, and they're not just something you can pick up on the go. They're a meal that's meant to be savored, enjoyed slowly over time as the flavors meld together. And when one takes a bite, they know that they're experiencing something truly special – a culinary tradition that's been passed down through generations of Chicagoans.

The Art of Making Italian Beef Sandwiches: A Chicago Tradition - 1st Part

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enI feel a little on the fence about dunking a whole sandwich and sauce but we'll see maybe I can be converted I'm in Chicago at Al's number one Italian beef today I'm going to be working here I'm gonna be making a sandwich I'm gonna be roasting the beef I'm gonna be slicing the beef I might dunk a sandwich and Jew I'm gonna be making jardinera I'm doing it all hey Chris hey Cody how's it going good good what should I know about the restaurant about the sandwich like my uncle Elle which the place is named after after he got out of uh stay in jail for a while they opened up this Reef stand it was a front for a bookie place you guys still have any of that old Spirit going on here oh not no more what does it take to get on the wall a letter all right they're obviously famous people as you see Muhammad Ali Mayors yeah all right I'm ready to start let's do it first thing we're gonna do is we use a top sirloin butt we got two pieces here they're roughly about 15 pounds all right and I have a spice pack that's created by my grandfather back in 1917. and we still continue the same recipe can you tell me what's in it no any of it so I got this oh hello so you can see the seasoning pack here can I guess a little bit sure fennel cute there's a lot of stuff in there coriander there's 17 different spices mustard so you have a good time yes paprika celery seed uh Bailey probably well we're gonna do Cody is introduce the tarp here all right nice to meet you right there allspice I gotta put the garlic in it also now we're gonna get that pail of water there and I'm gonna introduce a little bit of that to here nice I want you to mix it in real good all right I can do that absolutely yeah we're gonna introduce the meat to this this is a top sirloin butt the reason we use the butt is because this muscle when I cut it so thin it's still going to hold together it won't fall apart or shred Nebraska is going to be your trainer and your boss nice it's awesome you've been working here for 20 but 23 24 years what's your favorite part of of your boss and what's your least favorite part of your boss later party he doesn't have he's gonna open the middle a little bit all right and then he's gonna slice it in there it Cooks through and through like it took we went well done yeah and he's going to introduce it to this nice over here right here just like in the middle I guess yeah good fat side down yes oh all right do a little flip there you go the total cooking time is three and a half hours so they're gonna add a little more water now and that's it that's it we've set it at 450. so we're done with this process this has been cooking for three and a half hours three and a half hours and what we're gonna do he's gonna pull out a piece now I don't want you to get burnt so keep an eye on ask her how he does it and then you're gonna turn it around and introduce it to that all right Cody yeah it's your turn give it a good stab give it a good stamp in there grab it here if you drop it you get a deduction in pay all right how much you paying me again it's not too much too much yeah I did get myself on the thing pretty good right yeah I know yeah I know then we're gonna take the pan uh and we're gonna strain it it's a little heavy now yeah be careful there you go got it it's not only heavy but it's hot heavy and hot just like okay all right go right in there oh yeah oh everything every little bit it smells nice so there's like I'm seeing mustard seeds is there fennel cumin maybe we're gonna learn all their secret spices here this is gonna be cooled down and then when it gets down to like a room temperature we're gonna put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours sure so the beef's been in for 24 hours 24 hours it gets down to about 38 degrees which is slicing temperature nice it's a little heavy that's all right all right got the beef so this looks a lot different than when we pulled it out you'll feel it's it's hard yes it's hard so we could trim yeah you don't want to trim it when it's soft you start to dig it into the meat you know it's a little rougher all right cool so they're gonna get rid of all the fat and nerve anything that you think you would sit in there yeah you don't want that is that work I sometimes depending on what I work we'll butcher you know whole lambs and pork loin so your experience with me yeah a little bit a little bit Yeah so I wonder why you're coming on so good so this is kind of this is probably about 70 years old I call it my Frankenstein because we keep putting it back together it looks kind of like a torture device yeah it is if you've got to work is going to show you how this mechanism works great it's going to come out with small pieces at first another way we like to test it to put it on your tongue and if the juice of your tongue goes through it you know it's see what I'm talking about uh-huh you gotta watch the movie here so make sure it's lights coming right see any nerd you gotta stop the machine are you guys feeling nervous about being so close well I want you to be careful it's late yeah there's no pity on it yeah has anyone cut themselves it's a rotating razor blade you just it's ready to go out front cool all we're gonna do is because it's cold yeah you're gonna introduce it to our hot juice here gravy this is the sauce that we strained right so what we're gonna do is introduce this cold product let it get up to the temperature and then bring it out there then they don't change temperatures in our pizza sure that makes sense and then we're gonna pour some juice in there afterwards you did a good job there Cody yeah thank you Cody so this is our garden here you keep it inside the Italian Tupperware yeah there you go what makes jardinera jardinera jardinier in Italian means vegetables in a garden it's like a Chicago item everybody makes their own way this is made for Italian beef this is basically celery celery and spices we have a seasoning pack for this oh nice this is roughly about six pounds it'll make 30 gallons with the celery first of all last year's gonna help us Oscar it seems like you're the engine behind oh look at that it's amazing it's gonna add the seasoning pack cool and you're going to add oil to this now it'll have to sit for three to four days we're gonna show you how to make a beef sandwich here all right what makes an Italian sandwich like what unites them Italian beef sandwiches when I put the beef in here and it Blends all the flavors come together yeah I'm seeing cheese whiz over there yeah some sand Peppers I'm seeing sliced beef like what's the difference between an Italian beef Philly cheesesteak French dip fully cheese steak you got a grill you throw your steak on there you chop it up throw some cheese whiz on it scoop it up and hand it to the guy it's called frying this just takes three and a half hours right cooled separated from its juice then we blend it all back together after slicing it to paper thin and that's called cookie that's definitely all cooking so what kind of bread is this well the French bread that we use is very dense it holds together when you get a lot of juice on it it's not going to fall apart at it it's made here in Chicago so I see you got a pretty Fork here what's the deal with this this is L's Fork you these Forks of yourself yes I did and I'm gonna move it around a little bit okay three decent Scoops you know like like this and we're gonna add some Jared in here to it it's one big tablespoon spread it unless somebody wants more yeah you want to see me make one you give me feedback well good yeah there we go let's try it I got my bread yeah there you go slap it on another one of those all right cool Jordan there nice healthy like that a little bit more yeah so there you go I'll follow it yeah that's good yeah just two all right let's go beautiful as long as it ain't dripping all over the place yeah all right so what do you think you got that I think I got it yeah should I start making these mortars or what what do you got how many just one just one dip dip all right sweet no regular beef that's the big one yeah sweet peppers means no jardinera gonna grab it great there you go here you are thank you very much take it easy you got a big order here one regular beef's hot provolone sweet peppers then you got another regular beef two sandwiches two sandwiches this one's dry and then I got a hot dog and fries and everything all right cool sweet stuff coating you got to get the cheese okay I feel already that I'm moving slow okay so what we're gonna do do they want a dip I feel like they said dip did you want one dipped yeah dip it down there you go down again yeah why not come on all right that's good then you get some Jordan Air on there oh man it's juicy that's a juicy next one same idea provolone here is this all right let's make a hot dog you want to up like this yeah that's oh there we go same thing with this why is it emerald green that's the colors like they like you don't want to put too much there you go yeah that's cool what's the order I lost the ticket I gotta have two sandwiches a hot dog inside of fries yeah there you go there she is so Cody how was your day today did you enjoy it I enjoyed it yeah I liked making the sandwiches I didn't hear no complaints yeah that's good so that's a good sign huh I just noticed you know there's obviously like all these like cool people that have been here before I just I thought maybe you know oh look at that I've never been on like a wall before so I think yes we'll think you can think about it I'm happy to sign it or not sign it yeah sign it I feel like I'm gonna say Chris I've never done this before and I said you're my hero okay this is your hero smiley face um Mr Beef no no speed all right yours Cody that's cool it looks like I have a bone Appetit tattoo you know I'll be back in a couple weeks just to make sure you put it up I might have to put it in the apartmentI feel a little on the fence about dunking a whole sandwich and sauce but we'll see maybe I can be converted I'm in Chicago at Al's number one Italian beef today I'm going to be working here I'm gonna be making a sandwich I'm gonna be roasting the beef I'm gonna be slicing the beef I might dunk a sandwich and Jew I'm gonna be making jardinera I'm doing it all hey Chris hey Cody how's it going good good what should I know about the restaurant about the sandwich like my uncle Elle which the place is named after after he got out of uh stay in jail for a while they opened up this Reef stand it was a front for a bookie place you guys still have any of that old Spirit going on here oh not no more what does it take to get on the wall a letter all right they're obviously famous people as you see Muhammad Ali Mayors yeah all right I'm ready to start let's do it first thing we're gonna do is we use a top sirloin butt we got two pieces here they're roughly about 15 pounds all right and I have a spice pack that's created by my grandfather back in 1917. and we still continue the same recipe can you tell me what's in it no any of it so I got this oh hello so you can see the seasoning pack here can I guess a little bit sure fennel cute there's a lot of stuff in there coriander there's 17 different spices mustard so you have a good time yes paprika celery seed uh Bailey probably well we're gonna do Cody is introduce the tarp here all right nice to meet you right there allspice I gotta put the garlic in it also now we're gonna get that pail of water there and I'm gonna introduce a little bit of that to here nice I want you to mix it in real good all right I can do that absolutely yeah we're gonna introduce the meat to this this is a top sirloin butt the reason we use the butt is because this muscle when I cut it so thin it's still going to hold together it won't fall apart or shred Nebraska is going to be your trainer and your boss nice it's awesome you've been working here for 20 but 23 24 years what's your favorite part of of your boss and what's your least favorite part of your boss later party he doesn't have he's gonna open the middle a little bit all right and then he's gonna slice it in there it Cooks through and through like it took we went well done yeah and he's going to introduce it to this nice over here right here just like in the middle I guess yeah good fat side down yes oh all right do a little flip there you go the total cooking time is three and a half hours so they're gonna add a little more water now and that's it that's it we've set it at 450. so we're done with this process this has been cooking for three and a half hours three and a half hours and what we're gonna do he's gonna pull out a piece now I don't want you to get burnt so keep an eye on ask her how he does it and then you're gonna turn it around and introduce it to that all right Cody yeah it's your turn give it a good stab give it a good stamp in there grab it here if you drop it you get a deduction in pay all right how much you paying me again it's not too much too much yeah I did get myself on the thing pretty good right yeah I know yeah I know then we're gonna take the pan uh and we're gonna strain it it's a little heavy now yeah be careful there you go got it it's not only heavy but it's hot heavy and hot just like okay all right go right in there oh yeah oh everything every little bit it smells nice so there's like I'm seeing mustard seeds is there fennel cumin maybe we're gonna learn all their secret spices here this is gonna be cooled down and then when it gets down to like a room temperature we're gonna put it in the refrigerator for 24 hours sure so the beef's been in for 24 hours 24 hours it gets down to about 38 degrees which is slicing temperature nice it's a little heavy that's all right all right got the beef so this looks a lot different than when we pulled it out you'll feel it's it's hard yes it's hard so we could trim yeah you don't want to trim it when it's soft you start to dig it into the meat you know it's a little rougher all right cool so they're gonna get rid of all the fat and nerve anything that you think you would sit in there yeah you don't want that is that work I sometimes depending on what I work we'll butcher you know whole lambs and pork loin so your experience with me yeah a little bit a little bit Yeah so I wonder why you're coming on so good so this is kind of this is probably about 70 years old I call it my Frankenstein because we keep putting it back together it looks kind of like a torture device yeah it is if you've got to work is going to show you how this mechanism works great it's going to come out with small pieces at first another way we like to test it to put it on your tongue and if the juice of your tongue goes through it you know it's see what I'm talking about uh-huh you gotta watch the movie here so make sure it's lights coming right see any nerd you gotta stop the machine are you guys feeling nervous about being so close well I want you to be careful it's late yeah there's no pity on it yeah has anyone cut themselves it's a rotating razor blade you just it's ready to go out front cool all we're gonna do is because it's cold yeah you're gonna introduce it to our hot juice here gravy this is the sauce that we strained right so what we're gonna do is introduce this cold product let it get up to the temperature and then bring it out there then they don't change temperatures in our pizza sure that makes sense and then we're gonna pour some juice in there afterwards you did a good job there Cody yeah thank you Cody so this is our garden here you keep it inside the Italian Tupperware yeah there you go what makes jardinera jardinera jardinier in Italian means vegetables in a garden it's like a Chicago item everybody makes their own way this is made for Italian beef this is basically celery celery and spices we have a seasoning pack for this oh nice this is roughly about six pounds it'll make 30 gallons with the celery first of all last year's gonna help us Oscar it seems like you're the engine behind oh look at that it's amazing it's gonna add the seasoning pack cool and you're going to add oil to this now it'll have to sit for three to four days we're gonna show you how to make a beef sandwich here all right what makes an Italian sandwich like what unites them Italian beef sandwiches when I put the beef in here and it Blends all the flavors come together yeah I'm seeing cheese whiz over there yeah some sand Peppers I'm seeing sliced beef like what's the difference between an Italian beef Philly cheesesteak French dip fully cheese steak you got a grill you throw your steak on there you chop it up throw some cheese whiz on it scoop it up and hand it to the guy it's called frying this just takes three and a half hours right cooled separated from its juice then we blend it all back together after slicing it to paper thin and that's called cookie that's definitely all cooking so what kind of bread is this well the French bread that we use is very dense it holds together when you get a lot of juice on it it's not going to fall apart at it it's made here in Chicago so I see you got a pretty Fork here what's the deal with this this is L's Fork you these Forks of yourself yes I did and I'm gonna move it around a little bit okay three decent Scoops you know like like this and we're gonna add some Jared in here to it it's one big tablespoon spread it unless somebody wants more yeah you want to see me make one you give me feedback well good yeah there we go let's try it I got my bread yeah there you go slap it on another one of those all right cool Jordan there nice healthy like that a little bit more yeah so there you go I'll follow it yeah that's good yeah just two all right let's go beautiful as long as it ain't dripping all over the place yeah all right so what do you think you got that I think I got it yeah should I start making these mortars or what what do you got how many just one just one dip dip all right sweet no regular beef that's the big one yeah sweet peppers means no jardinera gonna grab it great there you go here you are thank you very much take it easy you got a big order here one regular beef's hot provolone sweet peppers then you got another regular beef two sandwiches two sandwiches this one's dry and then I got a hot dog and fries and everything all right cool sweet stuff coating you got to get the cheese okay I feel already that I'm moving slow okay so what we're gonna do do they want a dip I feel like they said dip did you want one dipped yeah dip it down there you go down again yeah why not come on all right that's good then you get some Jordan Air on there oh man it's juicy that's a juicy next one same idea provolone here is this all right let's make a hot dog you want to up like this yeah that's oh there we go same thing with this why is it emerald green that's the colors like they like you don't want to put too much there you go yeah that's cool what's the order I lost the ticket I gotta have two sandwiches a hot dog inside of fries yeah there you go there she is so Cody how was your day today did you enjoy it I enjoyed it yeah I liked making the sandwiches I didn't hear no complaints yeah that's good so that's a good sign huh I just noticed you know there's obviously like all these like cool people that have been here before I just I thought maybe you know oh look at that I've never been on like a wall before so I think yes we'll think you can think about it I'm happy to sign it or not sign it yeah sign it I feel like I'm gonna say Chris I've never done this before and I said you're my hero okay this is your hero smiley face um Mr Beef no no speed all right yours Cody that's cool it looks like I have a bone Appetit tattoo you know I'll be back in a couple weeks just to make sure you put it up I might have to put it in the apartment\n"