It’s the sporting event of the year. The Super Bowl has many iconic aspects to it: football triumphs (duh), the halftime show, imaginative commercials, and watch parties full of snacks. Part of the joy for viewers is gathering around a TV and munching along to the game. But what are the people actually attending the Super Bowl eating?
This year’s Super Bowl LIX is being hosted at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. A city renowned for its vibrant food culture rooted in Cajun and Creole cuisine, it would be an injustice to The Big Easy to not capitalize on its rich food history in the Super Bowl menu.
What food is being served at the Super Bowl this year?
Catered by Sodexo Live!, this year’s Super Bowl menu includes a host of unique dishes that blend New Orleans favorites with regular stadium fare. Embodying Louisianian culture, these foods are sure to stun through both their presentation and taste.
“This is a big-time menu from our big-game team, and we wanted to make sure we were balancing the traditional football favorites with a lot of local flair from one of the great food cities on the planet,” said Carmen Callo, corporate executive chef for Sodexo Live! who helped craft the menu. “We want to bring to life the city, but also need to remember it’s a football game. So, it’s marrying the Cajun, the Creole, the French, the Southern … a global melting pot that makes New Orleans so special.”
Special concessions items include a surf n turf po’boy, fried oyster po’boy BLT, soft shell crab po’boy, alligator sausage, elevated seafood nachos, and more. Also on the menu: jambalaya, Cajun beef brisket sandwiches, loaded baked potatoes (turducken and creamy crawfish), and typical stadium eats.
Suite members can sample a traditional NOLA sandwich platter with muffuletta and po’boys, “taste of louisiana” with gumbo and étouffée, seafood tower, and bananas foster bread pudding, among other dishes.
Along with cuisines native to New Orleans, the Super Bowl menu also blends Vietnamese and Japanese fare in its special concession items of The Big Easy Big Game bahn mi (mushroom banh mi) and lobster karaage sandwich.
Callo explained that Sodexo Live!’s research showed Asian food to be wildly popular — taking inspiration from even more cultures allowed his team to be more creative.
“The maitake mushrooms sit on the banh mi just like fried oysters would, so it’s a great vegetarian offering. And the lobster is always a great elevated addition to a high-profile menu; cooking it in a karaage style gives it a po’boy-esque feel,” Callo said.
For menu favorites, Callo recommended the elevated seafood nachos, a Superdome classic with the addition of extra crawfish and shrimp. He also mentioned the surf n turf po’Boy, with 5 pieces of shrimp and 9-hour slow-smoked short rib as an homage to the 59th Super Bowl.
What drinks will be served at the Super Bowl this year?
A selection of featured cocktails will be served, including a loaded spicy bloody mary, Black Magic, Royal Carnival Queen, espresso martini, blackberry lemonade, spiced mule, blood orange margarita, and reposado margarita.
These cocktails all recall different aspects of New Orleans food culture. The first two dirty cocktails — the bloody mary and Black Magic — use spices and ingredients common in Cajun food. The espresso martini perhaps draws upon the iconic Cafe Du Monde, a famous coffee and beignet establishment. The more citrusy drinks commemorate New Orleans’ history of citrus production and trade.
New Orleans is truly a salad bowl of people, cultures, and cuisine. Serving authentic food is just one way that the Super Bowl can honor the city it’s being hosted in.
“Cajun culture is prevalent all throughout New Orleans – whether in the form of gumbo, étouffée and jambalaya or more,” Callo said. “These are French-influenced dishes found on local menus and dinner tables everywhere throughout the Crescent City, so it’s crucial we do them and we do them right.”