From Scratch

For Cleveland, OH chef Michael Symon, Super Bowl Sunday is a chance to cook up a storm at home, surrounded by friends. This year is no different, except now he has an aura of fame. He’s the Food Network’s newest Iron Chef and among his guests this year will be a former contestant from a rival show: Top Chef’s Season Two fan favorite, Sam Talbot.

His upcoming party and recipes are featured in the current Food & Wine magazine, which named Symon one of the country’s best new chefs in 1998. His menu features foods we’ve come to associate with Super Bowl parties, but with a twist. His wings, for instance, certainly are hot but because of the Thai hot sauce, Sriracha. His chili uses black-eyed peas, bacon and pork cheeks.

Most Ohioans are fanatic about football, even at the high school level; the state, after all, is home to the Football Hall of Fame. When Symon was in high school, he chose wrestling over football and we learn in the article how that choice played an unexpected part in his getting his first job in a kitchen.

The article, by the way, was written by Michael Rulhman, a fellow Clevelander and one of the judges who crowned Symon the Next Iron Chef. Perhaps it’s irony, perhaps it’s indicative of how incestuous the food world is.

The article is here with links to the recipes. The wing recipe is here. And his dessert, Guinness Ice Cream with Chocolate-Covered Pretzels, is the sort of concoction we might see on Iron Chef. Or maybe it’s just an Ohio thing.