Spiediefest

Every year we bring a little of our East Coast roots to our Seattle friends by hosting Spiediefest. Often it’s during the summer; however, this year we postponed it to October. In previous years it coincided with visits from current Easterners such as my sister, or former housemates from my days at Cornell.

For the non-cognoscenti, spiedies are grilled kebabs of marinated meat or chicken served in hot dog buns. You’re served the kebab in the bun. You then pull out the skewer by squeezing the bun around the meat.Spiedies are native to Upstate New York, specifically the Binghamton-Syracuse-Rochester triangle. They originated in Binghamton. The Syracuse connection was established when the Salamidas opened their spiedie stand at the New York State Fair. A Rochester-based restaurant chain, Chef Italia, popularized spiedies in that city and in Ithaca when I was an undergrad. (My freshman roommate worked for Chef Italia’s upscale sister, The Vineyard, in Rochester.) The chain is long since defunct, but spiedies remain popular.
Truth be known, you need not buy special overpriced marinades for spiedies. Make a good homemade olive oil vinaigrette and add plenty of fresh or dried herbs and garlic. The lamb vinaigrette usually contains fresh mint along with basil, oregano, and parsley. For beef or lamb spiedies, use red wine vinegar. Chicken spiedies are made with lemon juice and/or white vinegar as the acid, with basil, oregano, and parsley. I also threw in some thyme and rosemary to add a little extra flavor. Marinate beef or lamb overnight. Some recipes will call for doing the same for chicken, but we prefer no more than 4 hours to keep the texture of the chicken from going pasty.
When it comes time to cook spiedies, thread about 5 chunks of meat onto a skewer. (If you use wood or bamboo skewers, soak them in water for a couple of hours so they don’t burn.) Fire up the grill, and cook until they are done. I use a meat thermometer and pull beef or lamb off at ~140°; chicken spiedies are done when the temperature reads 165°. You can garnish your spiedie with chopped onion. Often we set aside some marinade for drizzling on the cooked sandwich. (DO NOT use any marinade that’s been in contact with raw meat for this purpose.)

As I mentioned in one of my first posts, several of our friends have food allergies or intolerances. We can work around them for Spiediefest. One of our gluten-phobes actually found rolls at Whole Foods that have the taste and texture of wheat rolls despite being gluten-free. We marinate chicken and lamb chunks in garlic-free vinaigrette for our friend who has issues with alliums. The vegetarians can have tofu and mushroom spiedies. I don’t marinate those in advance, but dab some uncontaminated marinade on them as they cook on the grill. As with our other festivities, the point is to share laughs and good food.