Blurbed by Rick Bayless, Rich Melman and Rahm, Carol Mighton Haddix, Bruce Kraig and Colleen Taylor Sen’s heavily-illustrated A-to-Z “The Chicago Food Encyclopedia” dropped into the sea of the Chicago food scene in early fall, boasting hundreds of entries from the erratic past to the sumptuous present to the foodie future. The tone varies, from the bone-dry to the tersely tasty, hoping to be authoritative without tipping too much into passing fancy. “Of all foods commonly perceived to be Chicago icons, none is as important as the hot dog. With about 2,500 locations, the Chicago area has more fixed-location hot dog restaurants than any other city in the world,” is typical of the explicating. “Hot dogs are sausages descended from several varieties brought by German immigrants, beginning in the 1850s” is even more typical of the deep-dish diving. But the range of detail about personalities, trends, temples and the history of food production impresses across 375 entries from seventy-four contributors, reflecting nearly four years of work. Haddix told the Tribune the team is ready for a second edition already: “We have a folder on Google Docs already created to add and things to change. Restaurants close, and we need to keep on top of it.”
