Move over fried fish, pepper and egg is the supreme Lent sandwich
SalonWhen I begin to get antsy from early-in-the-year cabin fever, there are certain signs that I look for as indications that spring is really about to return: when the relative drab silence of winter is no longer just punctuated by an occasional whipping howl of wind off the lake, but by the light tittering of sparrows, lean from the cold; when the grape vines that are knotted and slung over the fences in my neighborhood begin to pop with buds; and when Chicago delis, diners and sandwich stands begin to advertise pepper and egg sandwiches. A pepper and egg sandwich is simultaneously unremarkable and transcendent in its simplicity — a statement that's perhaps fitting given its religious origins. To this day, joints that are focused on fare like Italian beef and hot dogs for the other 235 days of the year also offer pepper and egg sandwiches. It's not a Chicago-specific dish, of course — I've stumbled into a few New York City bodegas that will whip them up, as well as Italian delis dotting the East Coast.
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