A Mother-in-Law We Can Embrace

A Mother-in-Law at Ramova Grill in Bridgeport. Beans optional. (Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist)

It's hard to believe that this here website has been around since 2004 and not once has a post been written about one of Chicago's more unique food staples. Today, that gets remedied. With the weather set to fall into deep winter around here at the drop of a hat, it's also timely.

Accounts vary and are vague as to how the mother-in-law sandwich — a tamale smothered in chili and served on a hot dog bun — came to be. Southern Foodways Alliance president and food writer extraordinaire John T. Edge has been working for years on a theory that it originated in the Mississippi Delta.

In an NPR segment from 2007, Edge and Culinary Historians of Chicago founder Bruce Kraig discussed the dish's origins, among other things. Edge calls the mother-in-law an inventive dish created by poor people and marveled at the texture, while Kraig called the sandwich "mush" and that it's a carbohydrate bomb. (Both are, in our opinion, truth.)

Chicago Reader food writer Mike Sula questioned Edge's theory, given Chicago's history with the tamale and its Mexican American population. What is certain is the tamale used are those store-bought variety. Fat Johnnie's (7242 S. Western Ave.) has long claimed to be the originator of the mother-in-law, and even though they can be found in North and West side hot dog stands and diners, they're more commonly referred to on the South side by this name.

Fat Johnnie's serves one of the best mother-in-laws in the city, but Bridgeport has two places that serve a fine version, bun optional. Johnny O's (3461 S. Morgan St.) serves a mother-in-law chopped and tossed with onions and peppers and smothered in a cup of chili. Down the street at Ramova Grill (3510 S. Halsted St.), the mother-in-law is a simple tamale smothered in chili and served on a plate. It's a fine use for the best chili in Chicago.

LTHForum, chroniclers of all things food ranging from Alinea to where to forage edible weeds in town, also offers a litany of takes on the mother-in-law. Donald's Famous Hot Dogs (2325 S. Western Ave.) serves mother-in-law variant they call the "Hum Dinger" that has cheese sauce added to the mix.

We're falling into a carb coma thinking about this.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@chicagoist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Chuck Sudo in Food on November 21, 2011 5:10 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Mimihaha

Yes, the way food looks can be important. Also the way it smells.

DROOO1

so what we've learned here is that people only care to eat what looks good. nevermind how it tastes.

oonagh1

I have never heard of this. Truthfully, it looks more like a diaper blowout than anything appetizing.

erik75

Doesn't it end up the same way it began?

Nicholas

I thought a Mother-in-law also involved a hot dog (with tamale and chili), not just the bun.

twocee

That might be one of the most disgusting foodstuffs I've ever seen.

BlueFairlane

That does not look appealling at all.

This reminds me of stuff my dad eats. He's a big beans and cornbread type, and he likes to mash the beans into the cornbread until you get a mush the consistency of wet plaster. He does the same with biscuits, sorghum molasses, and butter, creating a liquid mess that looks much more like soup than bread. It makes me wonder why he bothers cooking the bread, as it just winds up going back to its original cornmeal or flour state. Watching him do this has permanently turned me off to anything mushy involving beans.