• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 08:58
CEST 14:58
KST 21:58
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
Serral wins EWC 202521Tournament Spotlight: FEL Cracow 20259Power Rank - Esports World Cup 202580RSL Season 1 - Final Week9[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall15
Community News
[BSL 2025] H2 - Team Wars, Weeklies & SB Ladder2EWC 2025 - Replay Pack2Google Play ASL (Season 20) Announced35BSL Team Wars - Bonyth, Dewalt, Hawk & Sziky teams10Weekly Cups (July 14-20): Final Check-up0
StarCraft 2
General
#1: Maru - Greatest Players of All Time Serral wins EWC 2025 Greatest Players of All Time: 2025 Update Power Rank - Esports World Cup 2025 EWC 2025 - Replay Pack
Tourneys
Sea Duckling Open (Global, Bronze-Diamond) TaeJa vs Creator Bo7 SC Evo Showmatch Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $10,000 live event Esports World Cup 2025
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response
Custom Maps
External Content
Mutation # 484 Magnetic Pull Mutation #239 Bad Weather Mutation # 483 Kill Bot Wars Mutation # 482 Wheel of Misfortune
Brood War
General
Google Play ASL (Season 20) Announced Help: rep cant save Shield Battery Server New Patch [G] Progamer Settings StarCraft & BroodWar Campaign Speedrun Quest
Tourneys
[BSL] Non-Korean Championship - Final weekend [Megathread] Daily Proleagues [BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China CSL Xiamen International Invitational
Strategy
Does 1 second matter in StarCraft? Simple Questions, Simple Answers Muta micro map competition [G] Mineral Boosting
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Total Annihilation Server - TAForever [MMORPG] Tree of Savior (Successor of Ragnarok) Path of Exile
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
Things Aren’t Peaceful in Palestine US Politics Mega-thread UK Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative
Fan Clubs
INnoVation Fan Club SKT1 Classic Fan Club!
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread Movie Discussion! [Manga] One Piece Korean Music Discussion
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NBA General Discussion
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Gtx660 graphics card replacement Installation of Windows 10 suck at "just a moment" Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
TeamLiquid Team Shirt On Sale The Automated Ban List
Blogs
Ping To Win? Pings And Their…
TrAiDoS
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Socialism Anyone?
GreenHorizons
Eight Anniversary as a TL…
Mizenhauer
Flash @ Namkraft Laddernet …
namkraft
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 639 users

[FOOD] The Purple Pig, Chicago, IL

Blogs > Cambium
Post a Reply
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 00:39:43
February 27 2011 00:10 GMT
#1
It's been a pretty busy week for me, and now I'm really falling behind... just two more places to review then I'm done with this mini series

The pictures were unfortunately very dark, and I'm too lazy to adjust it, so please bear with that. fixed...

Overall, the Purple Pig was a great dining experience (I think Milkis mentioned this place too), and I loved the comfort food served here and their large selection of wines (offered in 1/2, 3/4 and full). I ordered a rather full-bodied bottle of chianti, and it went really well with most of my dishes.

Deep fried pig ear
[image loading]

This dish was somewhat disappointing. I got the feeling that the chefs were trying very hard to mask the pig ears rather than having the ingredient speak for itself. The ears were thinly sliced and deep fried to a crispy, there was probably more batter than ear, and it could have been just batter sticks, and I probably wouldn't know the difference. The intricacy of the pig ear comes from its natural textural contrast: the bone/cartilage is crunchy and the meat/skin is jelly-like and a little chewy. Unfortunately, none of this was present in the dish.

The runny egg was definitely the star. As I've mentioned earlier, I love a runny egg on almost anything (except fish apparently), and the batter was in fact very good dipped in the runny yolk.

Deep fried devilled egg
[image loading]

This was supposedly be one of the most amazing things served at the Purple Pig and it ran out frequently. I was delighted to find out that it was available and ordered one immediately. The egg was... rather average, nothing wrong with it in particular, but it was definitely missing a "wow"-factor. I would actually much prefer a scotch egg much over this one.

Neck Gravy
[image loading]

[image loading]

The night turned around from this dish. The "gravy" is actually a spread, and it was loaded with pork from the neck. The bread was in fact very tasty and thick, perfect for loading up tons of the delicious spread. The dish also came with a little cup of fruit compote was comprised of gooseberries, peach and raisins, which went extremely well with pork and gave it a sweet and salty tasted.

Bone marrow
[image loading]

I love bone marrow, or "nature's butter" as I like to call it. This dish definitely had the right idea: bone marrow, salt and herbs on bread, however, the bread was toasted with quite a bit of oil, and the cilantro was drenched in dressing, making this dish incredible heavy to eat. I ended up not using the herbs at all, and it was still very enjoyable.

Milk braised pork shoulder
[image loading]

This thing was freaking amazing, easily the best dish of the night! The pork was so tender, and (almost) melted in my mouth. Flavours were good, the sauce was delicious, it was just a simple dish that was executed extremely well.

Deep fried brioche donut
[image loading]

Okay, this wasn't called a doughnut, but that's what it was in essence. Yea, I love brioche, and using brioche for a doughnut was just a brilliant idea. The outer dough was crunchy and aromatic (think of deep fried brioche), and the filling was delicious, but the layer of dough immediately under the filling was unfortunately raw, and I had to eat around that. It was a very good concept, and could have been an amazing dessert had it not for the poor execution.


***
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
ghrur
Profile Blog Joined May 2009
United States3786 Posts
February 27 2011 00:23 GMT
#2
I'm just wondering, how did you get so good at noticing the nuances in food?
darkness overpowering
synapse
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
China13814 Posts
February 27 2011 00:24 GMT
#3
Damn that looks great...

I didn't know there were bone marrow dishes o_O;
:)
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
February 27 2011 00:40 GMT
#4
On February 27 2011 09:23 ghrur wrote:
I'm just wondering, how did you get so good at noticing the nuances in food?


by eating lots lol...
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
Lexpar
Profile Blog Joined March 2009
1813 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 00:43:30
February 27 2011 00:43 GMT
#5
People eat ears and marrow? I learn new things every day.
Crais
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
Canada2136 Posts
February 27 2011 00:44 GMT
#6
On February 27 2011 09:40 Cambium wrote:
Show nested quote +
On February 27 2011 09:23 ghrur wrote:
I'm just wondering, how did you get so good at noticing the nuances in food?


by eating lots lol...


Good answer haha
RIP MBC Game Hero
Shinshin
Profile Joined November 2009
United States106 Posts
February 27 2011 00:46 GMT
#7
Ahhhhh. That marrow looks so good.
Disregard
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
China10252 Posts
February 27 2011 00:47 GMT
#8
That bone marrow dish looks mighty delicious.

I wouldnt have to suck and scoop out the bone marrow from leftover soup pork bones all the time! Sometimes people think Im going a bit to far just to eat some nasty bone tissue, they are missing out for sure. More for me!

Pig's ear have no funky flavors like pig innards(Its almost impossible to mask the stench), theres really nothing to hide. Did they cut it like the size usual for braised 豬耳朵?
"If I had to take a drug in order to be free, I'm screwed. Freedom exists in the mind, otherwise it doesn't exist."
Disregard
Profile Blog Joined March 2007
China10252 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 00:49:02
February 27 2011 00:48 GMT
#9
On February 27 2011 09:43 Lexpar wrote:
People eat ears and marrow? I learn new things every day.


Marrow is like premium butter, its that good. D:

edit: You can actually buy it pre-made in a container but that seems pretty nasty to me. I prefer to get it straight from the source.
"If I had to take a drug in order to be free, I'm screwed. Freedom exists in the mind, otherwise it doesn't exist."
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 01:00:14
February 27 2011 00:59 GMT
#10
On February 27 2011 09:47 Disregard wrote:
That bone marrow dish looks mighty delicious.

I wouldnt have to suck and scoop out the bone marrow from leftover soup pork bones all the time! Sometimes people think Im going a bit to far just to eat some nasty bone tissue, they are missing out for sure. More for me!

Pig's ear have no funky flavors like pig innards(Its almost impossible to mask the stench), theres really nothing to hide. Did they cut it like the size usual for braised 豬耳朵?


It was about 1/2 this wide, maybe thinner, but much shorter (just sticks, no bends)

[image loading]
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
buickskylark
Profile Blog Joined February 2010
Canada664 Posts
February 27 2011 01:18 GMT
#11
i don't usually like pork, but some of this stuff looks amazing. I've never tried marrow, what does it taste like? Is it literally buttery/greasy?
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
February 27 2011 01:24 GMT
#12
It doesn't really taste like anything; it's mostly just like oil.
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
fanta[Rn]
Profile Blog Joined October 2004
Japan2465 Posts
February 27 2011 02:02 GMT
#13
is that the same as
[image loading]
?
RLTY
Profile Blog Joined January 2009
United States965 Posts
February 27 2011 02:41 GMT
#14
holy shit, I'm so jelly right now.
HCastorp
Profile Blog Joined March 2010
United States388 Posts
February 27 2011 03:18 GMT
#15
Good god - What is the consistency of your stool after a meal like this?

StorkHwaiting
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
United States3465 Posts
February 27 2011 04:03 GMT
#16
Hmm, interesting. A lot of these dishes look heavy-handed though, like something Emeril would come up with. And the name, fried deviled egg, etc makes me think it's a rip-off of The Spotted Pig. Then some of the techniques, like runny egg over X, and milk braised make me roll my eyes at the lack of originality. Not because they taste bad, but just because they've been done a million times already. The neck gravy sounds fucking amazing though. Especially with the compote. Now that's a dish I could get behind.

I'm with you though on the egg, I think a scotch egg would beat a just plain fried egg any day. The Scotch egg over at The Breslin (same chefs as Spotted Pig) is divine.

Was the egg simply a hard-boiled egg rolled in breading? I'm not understanding what was deviled about it either.
LuMiX
Profile Blog Joined October 2006
China5757 Posts
February 27 2011 04:25 GMT
#17
damn, cambium! i'm always jealous whenever you make these food blogs. it seems like you go to a lot of different places to eat (high end too) possibly? what exactly do you do btw?
Milkis
Profile Blog Joined January 2010
5003 Posts
February 27 2011 04:28 GMT
#18
This thing was freaking amazing, easily the best dish of the night! The pork was so tender, and (almost) melted in my mouth. Flavours were good, the sauce was delicious, it was just a simple dish that was executed extremely well.


This was easily the highlight of the meal i had there too
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
February 27 2011 05:51 GMT
#19
fanta:
Something similar, but it's definitely more crispy, and the filling is cheese (probably mascarpone) and chocolate

HCastorp:
solid

StorkHwaiting:
It was definitely very heavy-handed. The devilled egg was a devilled egg (so hard boiled, yolk mixed with some cheese, not spicy at all though...), put together again, then deep fried in batter. I think the novelty was supposed to be putting two halves together? Not sure.

Metal:
I'm studying right now, literally eating my savings and future earnings lol...

Milkis:
:D
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
lixlix
Profile Blog Joined December 2009
United States482 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-02-27 08:23:40
February 27 2011 08:22 GMT
#20
Thats actually Italian parsley and not cilantro on the marrow dish.

Roast marrow bones with parsley salad is a fairly classic preparation that was first brought back in to prominence by Fergus Henderson about 10 years ago.

I agree that I don't like it when they oil or butter the bread in this dish and the parsley should be hit lightly with lemon and not be overdressed in oil as you want the herby acid to counter the richness of the marrow.
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
OSC
12:30
King of the Hill Weekly #220
CranKy Ducklings101
Liquipedia
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Harstem 523
Hui .118
StarCraft: Brood War
Britney 36655
Horang2 3517
Bisu 1898
Flash 1367
Jaedong 1028
Barracks 858
EffOrt 691
Hyun 588
Larva 440
Mini 437
[ Show more ]
Soulkey 329
actioN 283
Last 206
Killer 171
ZerO 154
Snow 140
GuemChi 121
ToSsGirL 114
Zeus 113
Leta 67
JYJ59
Backho 57
Sharp 55
Rush 53
sSak 46
Movie 41
sas.Sziky 38
sorry 35
Sea.KH 32
yabsab 31
zelot 27
Sacsri 24
[sc1f]eonzerg 16
ajuk12(nOOB) 16
Shinee 14
Noble 13
Hm[arnc] 8
Terrorterran 6
Aegong 4
Dota 2
Gorgc3870
qojqva1522
BananaSlamJamma258
XcaliburYe176
Counter-Strike
x6flipin527
markeloff74
kRYSTAL_27
Other Games
singsing2223
B2W.Neo1084
hiko583
DeMusliM404
Fuzer 315
Happy156
ToD105
ZerO(Twitch)16
QueenE8
Organizations
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 15 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• StrangeGG 85
• davetesta48
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis1669
• Jankos607
Other Games
• WagamamaTV268
Upcoming Events
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
3h 2m
The PondCast
21h 2m
Online Event
1d 3h
Korean StarCraft League
2 days
CranKy Ducklings
2 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
2 days
Mihu vs QiaoGege
Zhanhun vs Dewalt
Fengzi vs TBD
Online Event
3 days
Sparkling Tuna Cup
3 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
Bonyth vs TBD
OSC
5 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL 20 Non-Korean Championship
FEL Cracow 2025
Underdog Cup #2

Ongoing

Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
BSL 20 Team Wars
CC Div. A S7
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025

Upcoming

BSL 21 Qualifiers
ASL Season 20: Qualifier #1
ASL Season 20: Qualifier #2
ASL Season 20
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
BSL Season 21
RSL Revival: Season 2
Maestros of the Game
SEL Season 2 Championship
WardiTV Summer 2025
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
HCC Europe
Yuqilin POB S2
ESL Pro League S22
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.