The convocation (yes, that's what a group of eagles are called) will take to the field this Sunday in the city of Minneapolis, home of Mary Tyler Moore, Minnehaha Falls, and "The Minneapolis Sound," that mix of funk, rock, pop, and rhythm & blues popularized by Prince.
Those of us celebrating close to home might indulge in some of our Philly favorites like hoagies, dubbed the "official sandwich of Philadelphia," by Mayor Ed Rendell in 1992. A Philly hoagie is made the way I remember them from the annual Stockton Firehouse Hoagie Sale of my youth--on a long Italian soft roll, with deli meat, onions, lettuce and an abudance of oregano spiked viniagrette that seeps into the interior of the roll, saturating the whole handful of bread with a tangy, oily medley of goodness. There are many origin stories to the hoagie, but of course my favorite is the "Gilbert and Sullivan Conjecture," that posits when the comic opera H.M.S. Pinafore debuted in Philly, local bakers marked the occasion by baking rolls in the long, thin shape called "pinafores." Sandwiches made on these rolls were sold by street cart vendors known as "hokey-pokey men," or "hokey" for short, which morphed to "hoagie" in the native Philly dialect.
For Philly fans attending the Super Bowl in U.S. Bank Stadium, Aramark honors your regional roots with another Philly favorite, the "South Philly Roast Pork Sandwich" made with Italian Roast Pork, sauteed brocolli rabe, and sharp provolone, on an Amoroso's roll-- the iconic neighborhood favorite hearth-baked bread roll.
If you choose to honor the culinary roots of the AFC contender, you'll find a New England Clam roll made with Kettle Chip crusted fried clams on a griddled roll. But the SuperBowl parties we're attending this year will ALL be honoring the foods and flavors of our hometown.
"Bold North" (a twin-cities tagline created by marketing execs) is taking it beyond the Northeast cuulinary region--even beyond their hometown MidWestern roots and into James Beard award-winning territory with the fabulous southern comfort food of Minnesota- born and Southern -raised Thomas Boemer, chef of Revival. Boemer's food stall, an outpost of his wildly popular restaurant Revival, will be offering southern-style fried chicken sandwiches, hush puppies and pork belly. If you're looking for a little Southern-fried comfort food at home this Sunday, try his recipe for Carolina-cred-worthy Pimento Cheese Fritters.
Truth be told, as always, the best part of Sunday for me will be the friends, the food, and the music. With Bucks County native, Pink, singing the anthem and Justin ( "Tennessee Whiskey" smooth) Timberlake doing the half-time show, it's sure to be an evening!