I recently became aware of the spiedie sandwich, a favorite in south central New York state. It’s chicken chunks (or lamb or pork or beef) marinated in a special sauce for varying amounts of time, then skewered and cooked on a barbecue. I just received the sauce and the chicken is marinating, probably for a couple of days.
Anyone else familiar with this? How about any other less well-known local sandwiches?
Never heard of it, but it sounds a bit like souvlaki.
I like spiedies a lot. I have them whenever I’m in Binghamton, which is actually not all that often. The best one I’ve had is from a place called Sharkey’s, which I imagine and hope is still in business.
Between trips I do make them occasionally (though I am not in “spiedie territory” in that restaurants rarely sell them here, you can get spiedie marinade in supermarkets) but don’t ever get them quite right. Oh well. They’re good anyway…just not great.
Italian beef in Chicago
Loosemeat sandwiches in Iowa
I used to enjoy spiedies (on skewers, not in a sandwich) when I went to school in upstate New York in the early 1970s. They’re very local. I’ve never seen them anywhere else.
Apparently, the idea is to use a sandwich roll like an oven mitt to hold the meat while the skewer is withdrawn. For some reason, that appeals to me.
Yeah, it’s pretty cool! Many of the “street treat” carts in NYC offer this, but it’s just called a kebab sandwich. I need to seek out the real thing next time I’m up around the Finger Lakes.
From the skimpy research I’ve done on spiedies, it looks like the famous secret marinade is just a vinaigrette with extra garlic and oregano.
Never heard of it, but I’ve mainly passed through the area and don’t recall ever stopping to eat there. Now I want to try it, finding a lamb sandwich around here ain’t easy.
Our local less well known sandwich is the Dynamite, pretty much limited to the Woonsocket area. It’s really a Sloppy Joe but the locals insist that it’s not because it’s made with tomato paste instead of tomato sauce and topped with celery salt.
We made spiedies on Memorial Day weekend. I no longer bother to make my own marinade, instead relying on Rob Salamida’s State Fair Spiedie Sauce.
We made lamb, pork and beef. Marinated for 48 hours. Grilled. De-skewered using above described method.
Tastes like home. Tho not quite as much like home as Cornell recipe chicken.
P.S. it’s pronounce Speedies, in case you need to say it outloud.
If you have a Wegmans near you, even if you’re nowhere near central NY, they may carry State Fair Spiedie Sauce.
Boston area Wegmans stores also carry Lupo’s (from chefguy’s link) which is acceptable tho I like State Fair a smidge better.
As I recall, they used to serve the spiedies with hunks of Italian bread, so it was functionally the same if not actually made into a sandwich.
According to my wife, Buffalo’s claim to fame is not the wings, but something called “beef on Weck”, Weck being a local roll maker. I’ll be giving it a try later this summer when we visit there.
There’s usually lemon juice in the marinade, too. It’s not what’s in the marinade so much as how long it’s marinated. Not for a few hours, not overnight, but for several days. Serious people vacuum-seal the marinated meat. If a spiedie is dry, then you’re doing it wrong.
AIUI, the ‘weck’ is the name of the roll, Kümmelweck.
OHMIGOD, Beef on Weck is the sandwich of the gods. Thin sliced meat dribbled with a bit of the cooking juices, plus horseradish, piled onto a soft German roll topped with grainy salt and caraway.
It could make a Chicagoan swear off his Italian Beef dipped hot and sweet, a New Yorker neglect his brisket on rye with brown mustard.
Weck stands for kummelweck roll. Basically a kaiser roll with caraway seeds and coarse salt.
Sharkey’s is still in business, as in Red’s Kettle Inn, the other old-school place that serves spiedies. My favorite, Pancho’s Pit, closed down, and they were the only place that did lamb spiedies (the original spiedie meat). I’d say the Spiedie & Rib Pit is the best place, but it’s just a takeout joint with a few bare tables.
Yes, I neglected to mention beef on weck in my earlier post. Wonderful stuff. Anderson’s has some kind of spicy sauce which is very good, goes nicely with the roll. Of course the whole thing is a terrific vehicle for salt.
I will be in Buffalo end of next week and am looking forward to a sandwich already.
I actually found this stuff here in Chicago, much to my surprise, while perusing the barbecue sauce and marinade aisle of my local grocery store.
I’ve only had spiedies a couple time, from the Spiedie and Rib Pit in Vestal (next door to Binghamton) back in September. They’re okay. I was hoping to find lamb, but I ended up getting the pork. I also had chicken spiedies home grilled at my wife’ friends place. It’s basically just like chicken marinated in an Italian-ish dressing with perhaps a much tangier vinegar component to it. Tasty, but don’t overhype it in your mind. Oh, yeah, and we also had chicken spiedie pizza at some point there. Also an interesting concept.
This Chicagoan loves beef-on-weck. My wife is from Buffalo. My first visit there, back in our first year of dating, I was so excited to try all the wings. And, you know what? Perhaps I had set expectations too high, but I really wasn’t wowed. Duff’s (two different locations). Anchor Bar. Garbriel’s Gate. (On a later trip, I was actually impressed by Bar Bill Tavern, which also supposedly has a very good beef-on-weck, so if you want to knock out two Buffalo staples in one trip, that’s where I’d go.)
But beef-on-weck, man. I had one at Anderson’s, and was suitably impressed. Then I had the one at Charlie the Butchers. Just like you said, sandwich of the gods. Schwabl’s is supposed to be another classic stop, but I’m just so in love with Charlie’s, that I just can’t cheat on him. I’ve been back a couple times, and it’s always been Charlies.
Also, Ted’s hot dogs. This Chicagoan LOVES his Ted’s. Sahlen’s pork & beef hot dogs, natural casing, grilled and whacked at/prodded while grilling, so you get extra charred bits on them as the hot dog splits open. When I first saw it, I thought “what the fuck are they doing to that hot dog, the juices, man, the juices!” but, holy shit, it works. Might be my favorite dog in the universe. I still have about two pounds of Sahlen’s dogs sitting in my freezer from the last time I stocked up (visiting the Ted’s outpost in Phoenix in January.)