The five major food groups provided the loose organizing principle for our annual food issue. It’s an elementary concept, and maybe even corny, but also pleasingly broad, leaving room for a wide range of stories on developments in Chicago’s culinary scene that reflect the larger culinary culture.
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Mike Sula’s piece on a local effort to raise rare Mangalitsa pigs spotlights the growing farm-to-table movement and ongoing interest in local, artisanal, and sustainable agriculture, as does Lisa Shames’s piece on Wisconsin’s citywise Harvest Moon Farms. Julia Thiel’s DIY adventure in mozzarella making was undertaken—if not concluded—in the spirit of the Slow Food movement. Anne Spiselman’s look at what local chefs are making with unusual grains reflects burgeoning interest in reviving and preserving ancient foodstuffs. And Anne Ford’s profile of the local entrepreneur behind a new gelato franchise points up how artisanal values are penetrating even the chains.
VegetablesCity Farm From a Chicago couple, a Wisconsin organic farm that understands its urban customers By Lisa Shames
PreviouslyFood Issue 2008 The Whole Hog Project, the best new Chicago restaurants, favorite restaurants of Chicago chefs, and more
