What’s A Spiedie? Find Out at Taste Addison!

Chances are if you know me you’ll already know something about this subject.  I mentioned this in my blog yesterday and a couple of my friends have already asked me about it so I thought I’d expand it a bit and talk about one of my favorite foods ~ the Spiedie.

A Spiedie is a food that is native to my hometown of Binghamton, NY and its origination comes from the Italian spiedini or cubes of marinated meat cooked on a skewer or a spit and served on a slice of Italian bread.  

While there are variations around the world, the Spiedies from Binghamton are thought to have originated in the Abruzzo region of Italy which is also where my family is from.

In Binghamton you can’t go far without running into a bar or restaurant that serves them.  They are so popular to the area that there is even an annual Spiedie Fest held each summer that draws 100,000 people and where they have cook-offs searching for the best recipe. 

The funny thing is though that they are so regionalized that you can drive an hour from Binghamton in any direction and they’ve likely never heard of them.  About the only publicity they’ve gotten outside of Binghamton was when the Food Network did a profile of them which you can watch here.

For years I have ordered them online from a restaurant in Binghamton and had them shipped to me in Dallas.  I’ve introduced many of my friends to them and I’ve got one group of guys that I go camping with each year who won’t let me come now unless I bring Spiedies with me!  They aren't alone.  The Facebook page for Spiedies has over 17,000 followers from around the country all craving them.

So why all the talk about Spiedies? 

The Italian Club Dallas is once again participating in Taste Addison, a great event held May 20-22 and this year in our booth we’ll be serving up Chicken Spiedies.  Our Chef Tomasso has been working on perfecting them and we’ll be introducing the Taste Addison attendees to this great regional treat, originally from Italy via Binghamton, NY. 

While it’s still a month away, just thinking of the smell of them grilling and the taste of them gets my mouth watering.  A fun aspect of my job as the Club’s President is having a great chef to work with and getting to introduce many new people here in Dallas to something very dear to me.  So mark your calendars now – May 20-22 – and come try out this delicious food while you enjoy the music and family fun at Taste Addison!