In cooking up a recipe for sauce flavored with the blown-up Steve Bartman baseball, Harry Caray’s restaurant has taken every measure to stay out of hot water with the city’s department of public health. The two sides stayed in constant communication Thursday as the restaurant’s team of experts considered ways to incorporate remnants of the infamous ball in conjunction with health-code standards. Chicago municipal code 4-8-010 states that food cannot be served if it “consists in whole or in part of any filthy, putrid, decomposed substance, or if it is otherwise unfit for human consumption.” A baseball blown up a year ago fits in that category, according to Tim Hadac, spokesman for the health department. But Grant DePorter, managing partner of Harry Caray’s, has enlisted a team of dietitians and chemists to maximize flavor and minimize health risks. The ball itself will not be part of the sauce. “They’re going to capture the steam that rises off the ball and put it into the sauce,” Hadac said. “And if they do that, it will not violate any public health regulations.”
