More American Than Thanksgiving: Super Bowl
Let's call the Super Bowl what it is: the newest, still evolving, most popular, most passionately observed, most sociologically fascinating holiday in America.
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Plus, there's a slew of commercials to watch and a football game, even.
As the big day approaches and Americans are stocking up on the fixin's, it's possible to see the twin trends of our culture writ large. On the one hand, we are a nation preparing to eat an entire day's worth of food out of bags, boxes, and hollowed-out rounds of bread, as if we didn't even own a serving bowl.
We are, in other words, guys. Eternally adolescent, belly-scratching guys, just like the ones in all those recent movies in which chic, successful young women somehow end up with them, and it's really cute (unless you're a single woman thinking, "Oh. My. God.").
On the other hand, Americans are also increasingly interested in new variations on the Super Bowl standards. Crθme fraiche on our chili. Chipotle sauce on anything that walks through the door. At Whole Foods yesterday I rode the escalator with a man who'd come just to get organic hot sauce for his Buffalo wings. This keen interest in fine ingredients makes us, demographically at least, women. Or metrosexuals. Or foodies. Or at least something that is the opposite of a belly-scratching frat guy. Which simply means that the holiday is up for grabs.
"You'll notice," a Fairway manager with a master's degree in food studies, Alexa Johnson, said, "that even when people take their food to the next level, the dishes are still very similar. Chili made with bison is totally cool. A crown roast is not. Mashed potatoes don't feel right. But homemade potato chips with Maytag Blue Cheese are fine. You can reinvent, but only up to a certain point."
Clearly, we are still figuring out exactly how to celebrate this holiday, along with what it represents. Is it still a celebration of traditional manhood, like the game on the field?
If so, we would stick close to the macho/nacho nexis which, to a certain extent, is what we're doing. A study by the Snack Food Association found that Americans will eat 11 million pounds of chips (potato not pita) on Sunday. A survey by pizza.com found, perhaps unsurprisingly, that more than half of all Super Bowl viewers plan to eat pizza. Over at Ask.com, the most searched recipes last week were for chili, pizza, meatballs, salsa, and ribs. Not a peach smoothie among 'em.
At Fresh Direct, however, nutritionist Eileen Vider said her company has been getting a lot of orders for low fat pizza and grilled as opposed to fried chicken fingers. Sushi platters are also big. She attributes this trend to an increase in women watching the game, or at least watching the commercials.
As more ladies join the party, the holiday is morphing into a sort of second Thanksgiving. In terms of how much we eat, it is already right behind. But unlike Thanksgiving, which is devoted to family, or Christmas, which is devoted to children, Super Bowl is a day for friends. And in each of those groups, a decision is being made about what kind of holiday this is.
Celebrity chef Todd English is in the throes of this decision-making right now. He's a serious football fan his granddad owned the Titans but he will, of course, be concentrating on the food. "We do pigs in a blanket, but they're mini-chorizos wrapped in croissant dough," Mr. English said. "And instead of guacamole I do an artichoke guacamole." He'll also be serving a braised short ribs chili and, for the centerpiece, a whole roast pig.
"It's a pigskin theme," Mr. English explained.
And there you have it. Respect mixed with irony. Tradition mixed with invention. Frat guy football fan meets metrosexual/woman/ foodie. Super Bowl Sunday is so alive because all these primal elements are battling out.
Sort of like football itself.
Hear the "Lenore Galore" podcast:
Download the mp3 file
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