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By Shonta Durham & Alina Braica
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Photo by Brian J. Morowczynski
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Chicago is a city of great diversity. Almost every ethnic group in the United
States is represented here, complete with its traditional breads and bakeries.
Walk through Chicago’s neighborhoods and you will be rewarded with a taste
of countless cultures, a taste that can be savored through breads.
In many ways, breads reflect the cultural and religious traditions of the people
who bake and eat it.
“Bread has been a mainstay of people throughout the years,” says Jan
Scholl, associate professor of agriculture at Penn State University. “Food
is a social thing, connected with both religion and nutrition.”
That’s why these breads have a role in churches and well as homes. During
Greek Orthodox Mass, the host is a large, round loaf of white flour with images
of the crucifixion printed on the dough. In Poland, Bulgaria, Russia and the Ukraine,
bread symbolizes peace and happiness, and a loaf of bread with salt is often presented
on a platter to special guests as a welcoming gesture.
The Jewish sabbath is welcomed with a braided egg bread, known as challah. The
bread is covered until the blessings have been said over the other ceremonial
items — the candles and the wine — and then a blessing is said over
the bread and the meal begins, ushering in the day of rest.
In Bulgaria, Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine, weddings are celebrated with bread
molded into the shape of a heart. The bride and groom bow before the bread, kiss
each other and then distribute portions to their guests.
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Photo by Stacie Freudenberg
Ann’s Bakery creates elaborate breads, such as this korovay — a Ukrainian wedding bread — decorated with birds. |
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In all these cultures and countless more around the world, specific breads play
important roles in the family, the community and the way days, weeks and seasons
are marked and celebrated.
Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop
322 S. Halsted St.
(312) 454-1886
Located in the heart of Greektown, Pan Hellenic Pastry Shop has been serving up
traditional Greek pastries for nearly 30 years.
“Our history is in these breads,” says Louis Manolakos, owner of the
shop. Customers can order breads, baklava and other pastries to go, or choose
to sit at the little tables in the blue-and-white bakery and enjoy their purchases
with thick Greek coffee.
The koulores — which translates as “wedding crown” — is
not to be missed. This ring-shaped bread is light brown and crusty on the outside,
but soft and chewy on the inside. Traditionally eaten to celebrate engagements,
wedding and births, koulores is decorated with wildflowers in Northern Greece
and small figures and symbols made of dough in Southern Greece.
The Swedish Bakery
5348 N. Clark St.
(773) 561-8919
The Swedish Bakery has been a Chicago institution for nearly 75 years. It specializes
in traditional Swedish breads and pastries but also offers other European baked
goods.
The menu features a long list of breads, including cinnamon, cinnamon raisin,
potato, skradda kaka, Stockholm limpa, Vienna, vort limpa, gaelic soda bread and
a variety of different baguettes.
One of the best sellers is the Stockholm limpa, which derives its unique flavor
from a mixture of orange peels, brown sugar and anise. Also known as Swedish limpa,
this round rye loaf sometimes is seasoned with
cumin and fennel, resulting in a flavorful loaf with a wonderful aroma.
D’Amato’s Bakery
1124 W. Grand Ave.
(312) 733-5456
D’Amato’s Bakery looks like it was transported straight from Italy.
The red, white and green exterior features a large picture window where passersby
can view a large assortment of breads.
“Italy is the land of a thousand breads,” says Victor D’Amato,
owner. “We bring a little bit of Italy right here to the streets of Chicago.”
Inside, the smells of breads, pizza, cookies and cakes combine to create an
almost intoxicating mix. Orders are rung up on an old-fashioned cash register.
Don’t miss the focaccia here. It is kneaded with olive oil or boiled potatoes
and baked until soft on the inside and toasted on the outside. It can be served
with a variety of toppings, including cheese, tomatoes, rosemary, onions and
smoked ham.
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Photo by Stacie Freudenberg
At North Shore Bakery, the process of mixing the dough begins early in the morning. |
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Photo by Stacie Freudenberg
After the dough is shaped, flour is sprinkled over the tops of the unbaked loaves. |
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Photo by Stacie Freudenberg
The baked bread is cooled on racks and ready long before sunset, when work must stop. |
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Ann’s Bakery
2158 W. Chicago Ave.
(773) 384-5562
Because bread is so important in Ukrainian culture, there is a specially designed
type used in wedding ceremonies to symbolize good luck.
Korovay is served to the bride and groom to wish them a lucky life, full of
riches and good health. It’s beautifully decorated with braids, birds
or flowers.
For everyday meals, there’s the sweet twist bread called chalkoc, which
is baked in a steam box with sugar, raisins and twisted dough. Chalkoc used
to be so special that it was only eaten on Easter and Christmas, but now it
is eaten any time of the year. It’s so appetizing and exquisite that it
can be eaten alone, or with honey and milk.
“It’s something better than what you’ll usually eat,”
says Walter Siryj, owner of Ann’s Bakery. Try it at this picturesque bakery
in Ukrainian Village. Before you leave, be sure to sample freshly made brownies
and check out the cool Ukrainian greeting cards.
Hema’s Kitchen
6406 N. Oakley Ave.
(773) 338-1627
People from India and Pakistan share several breads in common. Pulka, also called
chapathi, paratha and poori, are the significant breads in these cultures. All
of these breads are hand-rolled, but each has its own distinct flavor.
Pulka is a grilled bread that is unbelievably soft and tasty. Poori, by contrast,
is a deep-fried balloon of bread that has a delicious, crispy texture. Paratha
is a wheat bread that is grilled with butter and can be eaten plain or filled
with a variety of savory vegetable and spice combinations.
Hema’s Kitchen, right off Devon Avenue, is the place to indulge in these
treats. Hema Potla, the owner, is justly proud of her business, which has been
featured in the Chicago Tribune, New City, the Chicago Reader and most recently,
the November issue of Chicago magazine.
Come in and relish these traditional breads with dinner, since as Potla explains,
“You’ve got to have bread with a meal. Otherwise it doesn’t
work out.”
Ethiopian Diamond
6120 N. Broadway
(773) 338-6100
If you’ve never enjoyed an Ethiopian meal complete with its famous injera,
you are really missing out. Injera is the foundation on which Ethiopian entrées
are served. Sisay Abebe, the owner of the Ethiopian Diamond, says that it is
made of flour, water and time. In Ethiopian cuisine, it functions as a plate
and utensils.
This spongy, sourdough pancake-like bread is layered underneath scoops of delightfully
spicy, slow-cooked foods. More injera is served on the side. Diners break off
pieces of the bread with their fingers and use it to scoop up and eat the meal.
At the end, they can eat the bottom injera, which is infused with the taste
of everything that has been on it.
This type of dining is very intimate, especially when it is employed in the
form of gursha, in which diners place bites of food in each other’s mouths.
Try this delicious bread at this immaculate restaurant where there are fresh
flowers on every table and colorful hand-woven tablecloths. Vivid paintings
adorn the walls, including one of the Fasilides castle in Northern Ethiopia.
Everything in this restaurant is prepared with care.
“You are not just eating for the sake of it; you are being honored by
the person who has invited you to eat. You are creating a bond,” says
Abebe.
North Shore Bakery
2919-21 N. Touhy Ave.
(773) 262-0600
On Friday evening, when the sun goes down, the Jewish sabbath begins. It is
welcomed with a bread that’s worthy of celebration itself: challah. This
braided egg bread can be plain or adorned with sesame or poppy seeds. It is
typically broken instead of cut with a knife and shared at the beginning of
the sabbath meal. And on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, challah may be
dipped in honey to symbolize the hopes for a sweet year ahead.
North Shore Bakery, located on the far north side in a predominantly Jewish
neighborhood, bustles with energy and activity on a Friday afternoon. All the
bread must be baked and sold before sundown, when work stops and the sabbath
begins.
Shoppers hasten in as early as they can so that they will have their challah
for their sabbath tables. Friendly farewells of “Shabbat Shalom”
are exchanged over the counter and between customers. As the sun sets, candles
are lit and challah is shared with young and old. 
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