Chicago's Sister Cities Festival

The variety of "sister cities" that Chicago has is quite interesting. My lunch today was from 3 of them! The annual Chicago Sister Cities International Festival is going on this week at Daley Plaza. Apparently there are 27 "sister cities" and while they weren't all represented, there was a good selection of different foods.

There were a group of musicians playing while I walked around - it sounded like Spanish or Mexican music. A "savory" turkey and cheese crepe represented Paris, France. A couscous salad representing Petach Tikva, Israel had with really good black and green olives and LARGE Israeli couscous. And a very refreshing (and not too sweet) mango shake represented Lahore, Pakistan.

Chicago Turkish Festival

Chicago's Turkish Festival is being held in Daley Plaza this week. After last week's Asian American Festival I have started paying a lot more attention to the things going on at Daley Plaza.

I actually like the Turkish Festival much better because there are many more "Turkish" elements to it. People dress up in costume and beautiful Turkish tables are set up for people to eat at. There is also a good amount of shopping including a whole bunch of authentic Turkish food items. So the attending the festival for lunch was a great way to break up the day.

Although I originally headed over to the festival for a keebob, I ended up having a Turkish Pizza and some amazing Eggplant Salad. I had never heard of a "Turkish" pizza before and it is basically some spiced meat folded in a large wrap topped with seasoned veggies. The eggplant salad was AMAZING and I'd love to recreate it. It had a great consistency and it was nice and garlicky, but not too overbearing.

Lunch from the Asian American Fesival

Chicago's Asian American Festival is being held at Daley Center this year. When my co-worker came back with Indian food for lunch today I was intrigued. I headed over there to see what I would discover. There were about 40 booths in total, half food and half stuff you could purchase (everything from purses to jewelry to bamboo). At the time I went there were belly dancers performing. There was at least one booth with every kind of Asian food you could think of: Indian, Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc.

For my lunch I decided to try the Bibimbabh from one of the Korean booths. Bibimbabh is mixed vegetables and beef served over white rice with a side of spicy sauce so you can make it as spicy as you like. I got this at their recommendation and because the vegetables looked so fresh. While this would be enough for a normal person, I just didn't feel right leaving with only one type of cuisine. So I stopped by Amarit's "Thai and Panasian" booth and ordered a Spring roll and a Thai Iced Coffee.

This kind of lunch beats anything you can get in The Loop on a normal day! I may just have to go back tomorrow!