CLAY COUNTY – While most of us won’t be at Super Bowl LX on Sunday, it doesn’t mean we can stuff our faces like true-blue, literally both team's same colors, Seattle …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, below, or purchase a new subscription.
Please log in to continueDon't have an ID?Print subscribersIf you're a print subscriber, but do not yet have an online account, click here to create one. Non-subscribersClick here to see your options for subscribing. Single day passYou also have the option of purchasing 24 hours of access, for $1.00. Click here to purchase a single day pass. |
CLAY COUNTY – While most of us won’t be at Super Bowl LX on Sunday, it doesn’t mean we can stuff our faces like true-blue, literally both team's same colors, Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots fans.
Although kickoff is at 6:30 p.m. (NBC, Peacock), the feasting is certain to begin hours before, during and after the game. The teams are separated by more than 3,042 miles by car. One is on the coast of the Pacific Ocean; the other is on the Atlantic. And they each have their unique tastes.
The top-selling foods at Gillette Stadium, the home of the Patriots, are Italian sausage subs, footlong hot dogs, burritos and barbecue sandwiches.
Go, New England!
The best sellers at the Seahawks’ Lumen Field are Bam Bam Smash Burgers with American cheese and Cajun onions, Cajun Fried Shrimp, Dough Zone Dumplings and Yard Nachos.
Go, Seattle!
Chowder in Boston is best known as New England clam chowder. It’s not red chowder. That’s Manhattan clam chowder. It’s made with smaller, brinier East Coast quahogs (New England) or steamed clams. It’s thick and hearty and is potato and cream based.
Seattle clam chowder features razor clams, which are large and meaty. Their chowder may include smoked salmon, other seafood or bacon and it’s usually milder and smokier.
Both said clam chowder is a Top10 in Seattle and Boston. But how they go about it couldn’t be different.
At Cedar River Seafood in Keystone Heights, they've gone about making New England clam chowder the same way since 1977, said owner Adam Bell.
"One thing that my parents instilled in me when they opened up Cedar River on Cedar Creek in Jacksonville in 1977 was consistency," he said. "It's something that people really look forward to. And generation after generation, we've never changed any of our recipes. It's been the same since 1977, you know, including our homemade soups and sides and sauces and all of the things."
The recipe at Cedar River has been, and always will be, a family secret, Bell said. It does have potatoes, quahogs and a creamy base.
"Every now and then, I'll put it over like a baked potato and have a loaded potato with some clam chowder and that fills me up for a while," Bell said.
Duke’s Seafood Restaurant is the three-time defending winner of the Seattle Chowder Cook Off, and that restaurant uses bacon, onion, celery, garlic, spices and razor clams.
The Northwest brags about its Seattle dog, which is a bratwurst or Polish sausage with cream cheese, caramelized onions, relish and jalapeños, while the Northeast puts it lobster rolls against any sandwich on the planet.
Seattle fans eat cedar plank salmon and Beecher’s mac and cheese; New England fans stand behind their donuts, cannoli and baked beans.
Finally, beer.
Seahawks fans know their hometown is a premier craft beer destination, with IPAs, stouts (with raw oysters) and crisp lagers, while Boston is famous for their local crafts and seasonal ales, particularly Samuel Adams, Harpoon IPA and Night Shift’s Whirlpool pale ales.
Of course, a lot of us will stick with the usual favorites like wings, pizza, chips and dips, nachos, pigs in a blanket, potato skins and, of course, beer.
Talk about a gastronomic touchdown!
