Chicagoist: Taste of Chicago Vendors Must Include One "Healthy" Item

mich

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 14:48:17 -0600

If this makes less people want to go, I might actually consider going to the Taste. Fat people + heat + food + crowd = me bumping into sweaty fat people with turkey legs. Gross.

matty

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:43:36 -0600

I think if you really wanted to make a healthy cheesecake you could ditch the aspartame and use carrots as the sweetener instead. The English did this as a sugar substitute during WWII and, voila, carrot cake was born. Why not a carrot cheesecake?

Ward Up

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:33:07 -0600

Gastronomic political correctness. What a ridiculous plan, except, of course, if you want to appease "experts." This plan is like, oh, there must be an adequate analogy somewhere...how about, it's like mandating bible studies at all UFC matches.

InsaneNewman

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:17:19 -0600

Re: M Chicago (#9) On one hand, that was an example of corporate shillery at it's finest. On the other hand, he did answer the criticism of Eli's "just" offering a slice of plain cheesecake as it's healthy option- none of today's publications really have been very fair to them. I'm interested to see what the potato chip retort is? Maybe they're baked, low sodium, sweet potato chips, with no coloring or preservatives - otherwise Billy Goat's full of crap. Then again, so is the healthy food mandate - I don't go to a food festival to eat healthy! (Although, if ticket prices keep going up, me lightened wallet may force a diet on me!)

matty

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:49:03 -0600

Thank's Marc...will try to try it!

M Chicago

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:32:28 -0600

At Eli's, we look forward to the Taste of Chicago each year. It is where my dad's cheesecake made its public debut at the first Taste in 1980 and an event that has brought us many fans over the years. This year we were challenged by the Mayor's Office of Special Events to come up with a "healthier" version of our cheesecake. We took this challenge quite seriously. We started with the no sugar added version of our cheesecake made with Equal Brand Sweetener. This is a very popular variety of our cheesecake as there are many customers with sugar restricted diets. Our pastry chefs then went farther keeping the cultured cream cheese, Nielsen Massey Bourbon Madagascar Vanilla, cultured sour cream with no hydrogenated oils that Eli’s is known for. Our newest addition “Skinny Eli” is reduced in calories, has no sugar added and is made with Neufchatel cheese, ricotta cheese (as well as cream cheese), light cultured sour cream, real Madagascar Bourbon vanilla and Equal Brand Sweetener. We then top it with sugar-free chocolate ganache and it is baked on a no sugar added graham cracker crust with real butter. It is 250 calories a slice and it tastes great. For those on a sugar restricted diet or for those looking to reduce calories, this is a great option. Of course, there is our other recommendation for Taste---share with your friends—guaranteed to be ½ the calories or 1/5---depending on how many friends and family you come to Taste with. Looking forward to seeing you at Taste. Marc Schulman President Eli's Cheesecake Company

lamgray

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:14:15 -0600

But I say, if you fry a vegetable, it's still a vegetable WHERE was that argument when I was 5???

Chuck Sudo

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:01:51 -0600

"But I say, if you fry a vegetable, it's still a vegetable" Folks in my family say that when they need to be convinced to go on "diets."

The Meteorologist

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:58:07 -0600

Hahaha. Really? Isn't doing this gonna make less people want to come? I'm just waiting for somebody to make a deep fried salad...

Mary_Sunshine

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:47:05 -0600

Cheesecake is healthy because it is a dairy product of course! Get 3-4 servings of cheesecake a day and you will be well on your way to a healthy lifestyle.

Jacy Wojcik

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:42:10 -0600

frp- haha, you just wait until I bust out the mglurg....

thelou137

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:41:50 -0600

well now that just sounds ridiculous...

frp

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:37:46 -0600

"...flerg...." First, blerg? Now, flerg?

kaylee

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 15:32:41 -0600

But I say, if you fry a vegetable, it's still a vegetable. That's my kind of argument.