Touch down Super Bowl Sunday with foods from the seafood capitals

By Catharine Kaufman

Tailgate parties will be heating up throughout the Big Easy on Feb. 3 making a pit stop at New Orleans’ Mercedes-Benz Superdome 6:30 p.m. ET. Super Bowl XLVII kicks off with a touch of Cajun spice, some San Francisco sourdough (the 49ers), Baltimore bivalves and crustaceans (Baltimore Ravens), and a friendly sibling rivalry as the Harbaugh bros vie against each other.

Paying homage to a pair of seasoned coaching brothers and a trio of seafood towns, here’s a primer on how to quarterback a winning Big Game shindig.

Gumbo Jumbo

New Orleans cuisine, a marriage of Canadian Cajun and European Creole flavors will spice up any party with such faves as Andouille and Boiudin sausages — push pedestrian bratwursts to the sidelines. Cut sausages in quarters and wrap in puff pastry for a riff on pigs in a blanket. Serve with Cajun dipping sauces with varying degrees of hotness. Po-Boys are monster stuffed sandwiches on French bread which can be swapped out for brown pumpernickel loaves, resembling edible footballs.

For pescavores, bake a heap of barbecue shrimp in their shells bathed in olive oil, garlic and bay leaves with a side of dirty rice or jambalaya. Big Easy Gumbo, an okra seafood stew, can be tweaked by adding red and white kidney beans for a Super Bowl-friendly version. Traditional munchies include crunchy praline, a confection of pecans, brown sugar, butter and vanilla, or for savory palates sprinkle a dash of cayenne and sea salt.

Frisco Foods

For some San Francisco treats, whip up a plate of sourdough bruschetta topped with pitted whole black olives reminiscent of mini footballs, or grilled Bay scallops with chopped garlic and tomatoes. Top crispy flat breads with San Fran’s famous Crab Louie salad accompanied by a mug of seafood cioppino, a staple of North Beach, San Francisco’s Little Italy.

In honor of Chinatown, serve some Asian fingerfoods including, sesame jumbo shrimp, football-shaped chicken balls, veggie spring rolls with ginger-mango dipping sauce and a pile of almond cookies and custom-made chocolate-dipped fortune cookies with kitschy messages inside.

Of course, San Francisco (or the upper East Bay city of Martinez) lays a solid claim as any to the origin of the martini. So shake up a batch, James Bond-style. Do a purple martini representative of the color of the Ravens uniforms and bursting with antioxidant blueberry or grape juices, or a cranberry martini paying tribute to the red threads of the 49ers.

Maryland Munchies

Ravens fans can chow down on some Chesapeake Bay delights like crab cake sliders or a gooey crab dip with an assortment of raw veggies from purple carrots and cauliflower florets (go Ravens) to red peppers and radishes (go 49ers). Try oyster fritters or steamed oysters in the shell with a garlic olive oil drizzle (while February passes the rule of thumb test for safely eating oysters since it’s a month containing the letter “R”).

For your just desserts, serve the “official state dessert” called Smith Island cake, a towering yellow cake layered with divine chocolate fudge icing.

Love Grub

Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, casts a wider gustatory net than the type-cast Philly cheesesteaks (stuffing sliced beef and melted cheese between a crusty roll which makes for good Super Bowl fare.) This town is hoagie heaven making “everything and the kitchen sink” sandwiches, soft pretzels, Turkish-spiced donuts, Cap ‘n Crunch cod fish tacos, soft, mozzaella-esque burrata perfect for snacks and sandwiches, Italian ices and handcrafted sodas.

Local Wing King

These quintessential Super Bowl eats must be prepared with masterful technique — you can’t just wing it. Chef Matt Ham of The Commons in The Gaslamp District brings his eclectic pub grub skills to this fledgling sports bar. This wing specialist serves roughly 4,000 meaty monster buffalo wings a week, offered in 10 flavors from volcanic honey mustard to spicy ranch that go down nicely with local craft beers from Stone Brewery and Ballast Point.

Courtesy of Chef Matt, The Commons

For San Francisco 49ers fans, Chef Matt recommends Chinatown-inspired wing sauces and garnishes like sesame seeds, hoison sauce and chopped scallions, while Ravens fans can add assorted chopped peppers to the hot sauce. Always have blue cheese and ranch dressings on hand for dipping with celery and carrot sticks.

— For additional Big Game recipes email kitchenshrink@san.rr.com.

Related posts:

1. Kitchen Shrink: Quarterbacking a winning Super Bowl Sunday shindig
2. How to quarterback a Super Bowl bash
3. Solana Beach resident wins Super Bowl trip
4. It’s time to quarterback a winning Super Bowl soiree
5. Kick off your Super Bowl shindig with some Stompin’ Tex-Mex chili

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Posted by Staff on Jan 31, 2013. Filed under Kitchen Shrink. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.