There’s big time sportsing happening Sunday as Super Bowl LI kicks off and the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons seek the right to call themselves champions.
(Yes, fine, I had to look up who’s playing.)
Whether you’re in it for the sportsball (go, preferred team!) or the expensive commercials, chances are good that you – or someone you’ve invited to come over and watch it all go down – is also in it for the food.
Wings are de rigeur, burgers are likely and definitely don’t forget chips and dip.
But if you’re looking for something a little more impressive – and especially if you won’t want to do any of all that prep and cooking – then three Calgary spots can help you kick a culinary field goal for game day. (And that will be my last sports reference. Field goals are a football thing, right?)
Cluck N Cleaver (1511 – 14th St. S.W.)
Forego the wings in favour of whole pieces of juicy, crispy fried chicken from Cluck N Cleaver.
For Super Bowl, the fried and rotisserie chicken joint is offering up their “Dirty Bird” special: 12 pieces of fried chicken, six biscuits, large gravy and a choice of two sides (rotisserie potatoes, fries or any of their salads; may I recommend the chipotle lime, corn and bean?). All that for $52, or $13 per person for a meal that will feed four.
The Dirty Bird can be ordered online for pick up or delivery or can be purchased just by walking in. It’s only available this Saturday and Sunday (Feb. 4 and 5).
Native Tongues (235 – 12th Ave. S.W.)
With Native Tongues, you can build a spread of DIY tacos with their taquero kits.
The kits come with all the fixings — tortillas, braised or stewed meats like their beef brisket or pork carnitas, or vegetable options like mushrooms or refried beans, housemade salsas, chopped onion, cilantro — so you’ll be set for a veritable taco buffet. Chips and guacamole, plus a selection of salsas are also options.
The kits can come fresh and ready to eat or chilled so they can be reheated at home and served up piping hot.
Don’t want to pick it up? You can have a taxi or Uber deliver it from the restaurant.
Even mini donas (donuts), flan or dulce de leche-filled cookies are add-on options. (Not to mention Mexican Coca-Cola and Squirt.)
Cured Delicatessen (8409 Elbow Dr. S.W.)
If wings are your thing, though, Cured Delicatessen in Haysboro is offering four different flavours for game day: two spicy and two mild options.
Honey-tandoori, jerk chicken, lemon-rosemary and yakitori chicken wings will all be on offer from the deli, which uses a vacuum tumbler to thoroughly marinate those flavours into the meat.
Dale Greene, the chef/owner, has also come up with a merguez sausage burger made from a blend of beef and lamb, and then spiked with harissa, a spicy chili pepper paste that originates from Northern Africa and combines peppers with numerous spices, and a “hog log” – a pork tenderloin stuffed with house-made sausage and then encased in bacon.
For those who require a dip as part of their Super Bowl spread, Cured has a bacon, beer and cheddar dip that uses Village Brewery’s Black Smith Ale, along with housemade smoked prosciutto.
Orders need to be in 24 hours ahead of the game (or 48 hours if you’re hosting more than 20 people) and can be done online or by phoning the restaurant at 403-263-9444.
Gwendolyn Richards is a Calgary-based food writer and the author of Pucker: A Cookbook for Citrus Lovers. She regularly contributes to Avenue magazine, the Calgary Herald and is the restaurant writer for Where Calgary. She isn’t sure about football, but loves any event where most of the focus is on eating chicken wings.
