Three Quarters Football, Four Quarters Food

I was going to write a pregame food suggestion post before the Super Bowl but decided against the idea. I felt there was too much material already out there rehashing the same ideas as every other year. Instead, I have decided to recap my own experience and observations from Sunday.

My friends and I made a trip down to one of my roommate's girlfriend’s parent’s house. Upon arriving, we all made our wagers, introduced ourselves and began eating and preparing for the game. Our preparation included only prosciutto-wrapped melon balls (below), but they went fast. The host prepared the rest.

Aside the melon balls is bruschetta with shrimp and an artichoke dip with chips.

As the game started and progressed, my interest digressed. I am a big football fan and had a wager on the Seattle Seahawks winning, so it makes sense that I stopped watching the game midway through the third quarter on Sunday. But many more than I withdrew attention early in the ballgame and refocused it elsewhere.

On the left (above) is a casserole with noodles, green peppers, mushrooms and an assortment of melted cheeses. On the right is a not so popular platter of different meats, including salami, roast beef and two kinds of turkey and ham.

Mini sausages (left) made the menu at this household, but are unlikely to show up much until next Super Bowl. On the right, a shrimp cocktail and kielbasa with a honey mustard sauce were both frequented items.

We refocused our attention on chatting with the 30 or so relatives, friends and other people we did not know. We watched as everyone left the television screens for more beer, and more food (I was shocked to learn from my boss today that this Super Bowl was amongst the highest rated television shows in history). The food selection, unlike the game, was not at all boring. It had spice and kick and as I suspected before 6:30 p.m., it stole the show from the game.

The spicy, chunky chili would have ranked high amongst the best chilis offered at last month's chili cookoff in MIT's sports information department.

Also interesting were the statistics, not of the football game, but for the most popular foods ordered nationwide for both delivery and take-out. The final stats, according to the AP National Restaurant Association survey cited in Monday’s Boston Globe read pizza, 58 percent, chicken wings, 50 percent, and subs or sandwiches, 20 percent. The link to the Boston Globe article “The go to players make their move” by Christine McConville is below.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/02/06/the_go_to_players_make_their_move/

I would have thought pizza and subs would have pulled in more cash and the chicken wings significantly less. But then again, I have noticed a rise in establishments specializing in wings recently.

The NRA also found that one out of every seven Americans got take-out or delivery for the big game. That leads me to wonder what percent order take-out or delivery on the average day because Americans don’t eat very healthy.