Most people outside of Chicago associate the Windy City's cuisine with two dishes. First and foremost, there is Chicago deep-dish pizza, ever the center of "is it really pizza" debates. Right behind it is the Chicago-style hot dog, famed for its ardent anti-ketchup stance.

It's curious how these two dishes came to define the perception of Chicago cuisine, and it must in no small part be due to the fact that they are often framed as rivals of New York City's own pizza and hot dogs. In truth though, neither deep-dish pizza nor hot dogs is the true Chicago signature. Ask the locals, and they will almost surely give that title to the Italian beef.