Binghamton, New York's signature: cubes of chicken, pork, or lamb marinated for days in a vinegar-oil-herb bath, grilled on skewers, then pulled off into a slice of Italian bread used as both glove and bun. It descends from southern-Italian spiedini brought by 1920s immigrants and has its own annual Spiedie Fest.
Also known as spiedie sandwich.
Ingredients
- 800 g chicken thigh or pork loin, in 3 cm cubes
- 120 ml olive oil
- 80 ml red wine vinegar plus 30 ml lemon juice
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp dried basil and 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried mint (the Binghamton tell)
- 1 tsp salt and 0.5 tsp black pepper
- Soft Italian bread, in thick slices
How to make it
- 1
Shake all the marinade ingredients together in a jar, reserving a few spoonfuls for serving.
- 2
Submerge the meat and refrigerate 2 to 3 full days, stirring once a day; this is the step that makes it a spiedie.
- 3
Skewer straight from the marinade without wiping.
- 4
Grill over hot coals 8-10 minutes, turning until browned at the corners and cooked through.
- 5
Grip a slice of Italian bread like an oven mitt, clamp it around a skewer, and pull the meat off into the bread. Drizzle with the reserved marinade.
Pro tip: Time is the invisible ingredient: two hours of this marinade gives you grilled chicken, two days gives you a spiedie. The vinegar-herb bath needs the full soak to work its way to the center, and the dried mint is what old Binghamton cooks check for.
Where Spiedie comes from
Binghamton has an annual Spiedie Fest with a hot-air balloon rally attached, and the marinade recipes of the local Italian-American families are a matter of genuine and long-running competition.
How Spiedie is cooked
The marinade is the whole dish and its distinguishing feature is duration. Where most kebab traditions warn against long acidic marinades, the spiedie tradition insists on a long soak — at least a day, and up to three — and the reason it works is dilution: the oil and vinegar are kept close to level, oil a shade ahead, so the acid acts slowly rather than destroying the surface.
Grilling is fast and hot, and the bread is the serving device rather than a component: a slice of soft Italian bread is wrapped around the skewer and used to pull the meat off, then folded around it. That gesture — the same one used in Turkey with pide and in Georgia with lavash — is convergent invention, and Binghamton arrived at it independently.
Ingredients and shopping
Chicken thigh, pork shoulder or lamb in three-centimetre cubes. All three are traditional and local opinion is divided. The marinade is oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and a heavy hand with dried Italian herbs — oregano, basil, parsley, thyme, mint in some family recipes.
The oil and vinegar should stay close to level, oil a shade ahead, which is what makes a long marinade safe rather than corrosive. Soft Italian bread, sliced thick. Nothing else — no salad, no cheese, and no sauce beyond a drizzle of fresh, unused marinade. Binghamton is firm about this.
How Spiedie is served
On a slice of soft Italian bread, folded around the meat pulled straight off the skewer. Nothing else on it but a drizzle of fresh marinade. At Spiedie Fest, by the dozen. It is a summer and cookout food and Binghamton treats it as a civic possession.
Common mistakes
Marinating for only a few hours
The spiedie tradition calls for at least a full day, and up to three. The marinade keeps oil and vinegar close to level so the acid works slowly.
A vinegar-heavy marinade
It will destroy the meat over a long soak. Keep the oil at least level with the vinegar, never outweighed by it.
Adding sauce or salad
A spiedie is meat and bread, with at most a drizzle of fresh marinade. Local opinion on this point is not flexible.
Crusty bread
It must be soft enough to wrap around the skewer and pull the meat off. A crusty roll cannot do that.
Spiedie: questions and answers
How long should spiedies marinate?
At least a full day, and up to three, is the tradition. The oil and vinegar are kept close to level, oil a shade ahead, so the acid works slowly rather than damaging the meat.
What meat is used?
Chicken, pork or lamb — all three are traditional in Binghamton and opinion on the best is divided.
Sources and further reading
- Spiedie — Wikipedia
- Spiedie Sandwich Recipe and History — What's Cooking America
