Dept. of Food

[kaffy_r]

Devon Avenue, Chicago

We moved to our current place 22 years ago (good ghod), leaving behind a neighborhood on and around Devon* Avenue, which was a crossroads for multiple South Asian communities - at the time, largely Indian shops, restaurants, banks, and other businesses west of Western Avenue, and similar Pakistani businesses east of Western, but now apparently also home to Rohingya and Afghan communities as well. 

I started thinking today, after reading a piece on Devon Avenue's South Asian communities, of how much I miss being close to Indian/Pakistani food, and how much I still want to summon the courage to go into one of the sari stores and ask if it would be alright if I bought a sari for myself (I don't want to fall afoul of cultural misappropriation) and want to buy some things at one of my favorite grocery stores to put in my larder. 

Right now, I'm fighting a sudden faunch for samosas and kulfi ice cream. Ah, memories!

(The story I read that made me start thinking of Devon Avenue is from Chicago's Block Club online news outlet. I think it offers readers up to five free stories before requiring a subscription and putting other stories behind a paywall. I'm not sure if this story would be part of the available free stories, but I'm including a link to it, in case it is. I subscribe to Block Club, so I can't be sure what's free and what's not. I hope you can read it, because the story's well done, and also has information on restaurants along Devon.)

* The proper way to pronounce "Devon" in Chicago is "DehVONN" rather than "DEVun"; if you use the latter pronunciation, we'll know you're from out of town. Heh. 

Comments

[pameladean]

I have some tiny cookbooks purchased on Devon Avenue and sent by a friend. They don't contain recipes so much as templates, and have helped me improvise Indian meals. Well, dishes, anyway.

My only other association with Devon Avenue is that in the nineties (I think, maybe a little later) there was a person attending sf conventions posing as Terri Windling. Terri was living in Devon, England, but the imposter pronounced it like the street in Chicago.

P.

[kaffy_r]

They don't contain recipes so much as templates,

As I've gotten older, I've come to realize that templates like that are slightly more useful than classic recipes.

Terri was living in Devon, England, but the imposter pronounced it like the street in Chicago.

First off - what a scuzzy thing to do. Secondly - damn, the imposter was definitely from Chicago or a nearby suburb. The rotter.

[(Anonymous)]

Templates are indeed useful, though I often resort to a standard recipe for measurements so I know if generally you want a tablespoon or a quarter teaspoon of some seasoning. Sometimes the template will say "little turmeric" or "handful coriander," but mostly not. Oh, but occasionally a regular recipe will bloom out of the text, and then you have things like "2 teacups besan" and don't know if that's 5 oz or 8 or something else.

I can't remember what the overall outcome of the Terri Windling imposter situation was, but definitely the imposter stopped being believed fairly quickly. I did a quick search but there's nothing. And hey, the Chicago area is large, there have to be a few rotters around.

P.

[kaffy_r]

but definitely the imposter stopped being believed fairly quickly.

As should have been. It's hard to pretend being anything but a Chicagoan with a heavy Chicago accent. Heh.

I have a very old recipe book that my grandmother had, and I used to have access to more of the old cookbooks she used - Fanny Farmer's was one of them - and the "template" version of recipes shows up a lot: "a goodly amount of butter," "Not too much milk," "keep in oven until it's slightly brown, but not too brown."

speaking of which

[minnehaha]

I tell new Twin Citizens that "Nicollet" (Avenue) rhymes with "chiclet". It is not "Nick-o-lay", nor "Nick-o-let".

My experience of sari wearing is entirely informed by Indian women who say it is perfectly fine if you want to wear Indian clothes. I have a few saris and salwar kameez. What is never OK is to wear such as costume.

You have to get the blouse and petticoat. Or leggings.

K.

Re: speaking of which

[kaffy_r]

"Nicollet" (Avenue) rhymes with "chiclet"

I've been calling it Nick-o-LET all these years. Now I won't do that.

I have a lovely salwar kameez that I've worn for a Thanksgiving dinner at a high-end restaurant. I found it at a second-hand shop and still have it, although I haven't worn it very often since then. And I would most definitely not wear either it or any sari as a costume. They're both such a gorgeous way to dress. And you're right; I'd have to get the correct blouse. I wasn't aware that I'd need a petticoat or leggings, but that makes sense.

[carbonel]

My primary association with Devon Avenue is from childhood in the 1960s. There was a shoe store, Dewitt's at Devon and Broadway, where we bought all our shoes until I was in my teens at least.

[kaffy_r]

I'm not familiar with that far eastern end of Devon, but Devon between McCormick Blvd and just slightly west of California still has some Jewish stores and possibly still one restaurant. Farther east and you move into the Indian and Pakistani storefronts and businesses.

[smallhobbit]

I suspect you'd know I was from out of town anyway 😁 I say DeVUN since to me it's the county.

Also, delighted about Andy's job, hope he did get the higher wage. And glad you had a good birthday - and don't feel too elderly (I can say that being one year one month younger 😂)

[kaffy_r]

Andy was able to get a slightly higher salary; not as much as he'd hoped, but he wasn't surprised, and he was pleased they did move the needle noticeably.

DeVUN sounds a great deal like the way Chicagoans pronounce our street name.

I don't mind being old; as the very tired joke goes, it certainly beats the alternative. Heh.