Spiedie Fest This Weekend in Upstate New York
The 24th Annual Spiedie Fest & Balloon Rally is this weekend in Binghamton, New York. Where else are you gonna see a K9 frisbee dog show, an antique car and truck show, fireworks, a volleyball championship, Blue Oyster Cult, Bad Company with Brian Howe, a hot air balloon rally, Dale Earnhardt Junior's #88 show car, and get spiedies?
For those unfamiliar with the New York state original "spiedie," it involves meat cubes marinated overnight or longer in a special spiedie sauce (usually olive oil, vinegar, Italian spices, and fresh mint). Grilled on spits over a charcoal pit, the spiedie meat can be eaten straight from the skewer or in sandwich form when stuffed into rolls.
Related
Serious Sandwiches: The Spiedie at Lupo's S & S Char Pit
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7 Comments:
The Spiedie is hands down New York's best sandwich. Lupo's may be the most well known purveyor of Spiedie goodness, but Sharkey's restaurant is the place to go if you want the sandwich prepared as it was meant to be.
hamkracker at 12:14PM on 08/01/08
This sounds like such a fun event! Anything with hot air balloons is great, but marinated meat cubes also in the mix? Sounds too good to be true. :)
marieinla at 12:51PM on 08/01/08
A Spiedie. Really? I'll have to try this.
hungrychristel at 1:32PM on 08/01/08
Hey, thanks for giving Spiedie Fest (and the Southern Tier) a shout-out! I moved to Binghamton two years ago and will be attending the festival for the first time this year. I'm a regular Serious Eats reader, and it's nice to see that our premier festival is getting a little love.
Spiedies -- the meat itself, anyway -- reminds me of the way Persian meats are marinated, though locals swear it was created right here. And the best part about spieidies is that they can be made with virtually any kind of meat. I've been told that shark spiedies are especially good! You can buy the "official" marinade here in local grocery stores.
krissyc at 5:40PM on 08/01/08
@krissyc: very jealous that you're going to the Spiedie Fest! Make sure to come back and give a report on how it went!
Raphael at 5:55PM on 08/01/08
Will do! I'm, of course, mostly interested in the food, but the hot air balloons and the musical acts and meet-and-greets are of interest, too. Supposedly, there are four pre-planned wedding proposals planned already for the balloon rides; musical acts include Vanessa Carlton, Ace Young and (more cowbell!) Blue Oyster Cult; meet-and-greets mostly involve minor players on Hannah Montana, so I'll be skipping that. But I'll be on hand Sunday for the spiedie cook-off, which will (in my book) be the highlight of the weekend!
krissyc at 6:11PM on 08/01/08
I graduated from Binghamton in December...man do I miss Lupos. When (gag) Rachael Ray did that show on Spiedies and didn't even go to Binghamton, but rather somewhere further upstate, I wanted to sock her more than ever.
machellebelle at 6:39PM on 08/03/08