Will Jordin Sparks have a wardrobe malfunction while singing the national anthem? Will Tom Brady be able to play? Will his gazelle of a girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen, be an albatross as Jessica Simpson has been for Tony Romo? Will I have enough spicy chicken wings to last through the halftime show? Is my TV screen big enough?
These are the burning questions gnawing away at me in anticipation of Super Bowl XLII.
Having lived in Boston for a few years, I am partial to the New England Patriots. Since I live in New York now, I feel compelled to root for the Giants. Deep down, however, I wish that my beloved scrappy Washington Redskins had beaten the detestable Dallas Cowboys to get to the Super Bowl.
This year’s game will be the first Super Bowl played on a retractable natural grass surface at the University of Phoenix in Glendale, Ariz. Because Fox is airing the game, the entire shebang seems to be geared around “American Idol.” Ryan Seacrest will be the M.C. for the “red carpet” and the halftime show. Paula Abdul will be performing a new song (gulp!), and the aforementioned Jordin Sparks, who won the sixth season of “American Idol,” will sing the national anthem. She is a Glendale native, and her father was an N.F.L. player, Phillippi Sparks.
More important, what kind of food should I serve? Manhattan clam chowder or New England? Southwestern-style food in honor of the venue, or something more Noo Yawk?
Ed Levine of Ed Levine’s New York Eats Web site concedes that the Patriots may have a better team, but when it comes to food, New York wins hands down. Pastrami, bagels, cheesecake, kosher-style hot dogs. Don’t they sound more mouthwatering than Boston baked beans and brown bread?
Super Bowl Sunday is the biggest at- home party event of the year, ahead of New Year’s Eve. It is the second-largest day of food consumption after Thanksgiving. Is it any wonder that sales of antacids increase 20 percent the day after the Super Bowl? I collect these scientific facts for you, my dear readers. Americans consume eight million pounds of avocados on Super Bowl Sunday, according to the California Avocado Commission.
It is curious that other televised sporting events, like golf and tennis, don’t seem to encourage this hunger for crunching, munching, and meat. Perhaps it’s the bone-crunching of the sport itself? On the edge of your seat, nail-biting, adrenaline-pumping competition and action.
Whatever the reason, it is a great excuse to bake a silly football-shaped cake, set out a platter of chicken wings and dips, and settle down for an afternoon of excitement, lager, and shouting.
I’m going to lean in a Southwestern direction this year with a green chili cheese topping for Doritos (official chip sponsor of Super Bowl XLII!). I think I’ll do something different with the chicken wings, too.
American football, as we know it today, began to evolve when Princeton University held the first college game. The first football was patented in 1865 and the first game between colleges took place between Rutgers and Princeton in 1869, after Rutgers managed to establish a workable set of rules.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to ban football because of numerous deaths and injuries. He did this halfheartedly though, and never followed through, for he was an enormous fan of the sport.
Probably the earliest form of football was a game called cuju played by the Chinese around the second century B.C. A military manual describes the game as involving a leather ball kicked through a hole in a piece of silk cloth strung between two 30-foot poles.
Many versions of football are played around the world. The Inuits of Greenland play aqsaqtuk, and the aboriginal tribes in Australia play mam grook. I doubt they play a song before each game, or charge sponsors $2.7 million for a 30-second advertisement, or eat themselves silly on oinky junk food as they watch the action, but this is the beauty of American sport.
As Joe Theismann, one of my beloved Redskins, once said, “You don’t have to be a genius to play or enjoy football. Only Norman Einstein was a genius.”
Green Chili Spread
You can spread this dip on Doritos before baking, but I’m going to try it on thin baguette slices, already toasted on one side.
Makes two cups.
1 7-oz. can green chilies, diced
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sliced scallions, green part included 1 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbsp. minced cilantro
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
Dash of Tabasco
Combine all ingredients. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line two baking sheets with tinfoil. Put layer of chips or baguette slices on sheet trays. Spread green chili spread thinly on chips or bread. Bake approximately five to eight minutes, watching carefully so chips don’t burn. Turn pan once to cook evenly. Serve immediately.
Polivar’s Crispy Cumin Chicken Wings
This is a recipe inspired by Polivar, who works at the Laundry restaurant in East Hampton.
Split as many chicken wings as you want. You can remove the wing tip, but I like the crunchy little bits. For each pound of chicken wings, toss them in the following mixture:
1 cup flour with two tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
2 tablespoons whole cumin seeds.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and lay chicken wings in pan in one layer. Bake approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until well crisped.
Dipping sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 chipotle pepper with a little extra sauce from can (you can find this in Latino markets and Citarella)
1 tsp. lime juice
Purée dipping-sauce ingredients. Serve with wings. Feel free to make chipotle mayo hotter or milder.
Chutney Cheddar Dip
This dip is always a hit at parties. Serve with crackers and crudites.
1 8-oz. package of cream cheese
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tbsp. dry sherry
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. curry powder
3/4 cup chopped scallions, green parts included 3/4 cup mango chutney
Combine first five ingredients in bowl. Mush around with your clean bare hands. Come on, it’s Super Bowl Sunday, be a man! Spread onto platter about one-inch thick.
