JOIN USAt chocolate brownie’s birthplace
Chicago’s historic Palmer House Hilton Hotel is famous for its chocolate brownies which are to date made from the same 1893 recipe. On my visit here, I chose to sit at the iconic Lockwood bar in the hotel, which is highly opulent and famous for its fresco ceiling representing Greek mythology. The artworks on display were finished in France and brought here in 1927. Even though I didn’t fully comprehend the mythology, it was delightful to look up and admire the art.
The dish came decorated with a variety of fresh berries, bathed in apricot glaze with some sort of jam, making the cut for a gorgeous display. It was served in a white bowl-style plate. It had such a unique, rich, warm flavour as though it was just baked and served straight from the oven loaded with walnuts. The taste transported me to a different time period from which I did not want to return. I paid 13.41 USD, taxes included, for the experience, which was totally worth it. The hotel also offers takeaway options for those in a hurry (USD 9).
If the hotel’s history is to be believed, Bertha Palmer, the wife of the hotel owner, came up with the idea for Bertha’s Brownie and floated it to the pastry chef Joseph Sehl during the days of the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. An important event in Chicago’s history, the fair is held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World and to showcase Chicago’s recovery from the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Bertha chaired the Board of Lady Managers for the Exposition and urged chef Sehl to create a chocolate cake-like treat that would be easy to box and transport. And just like that, the globally famous brownie was invented at Palmer House. The list of famous people who have consumed it while seated in the same lobby is extensive and includes numerous literary figures, such as Charles Dickens, Oscar Wilde, and Mark Twain. The hotel has never kept the precise recipe a secret and it is in fact posted on their website too.
“We use 70% dark chocolate and begin by melting the chocolate. Flour, sugar, butter, eggs, baking soda and vanilla follow for crafting its batter. Then it is dotted with walnuts. It then goes into the oven for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees. But to hold the nuts and to give them a shine, we brush them with apricot glaze. And once it cools down, we cut it into squares and garnish it,” shared Jason Schroeder, Executive Sous Chef, adding that soon after it was first birthed, it attained huge word-of-mouth publicity, which spread across the world.