Spiedies

If you happen to come from the Binghamton area of upstate New York, then you grew up eating spiedies (spee dees) and probably have a bottle of spiedie sauce in your refrigerator as we speak.

For those of you not in the know, a spiedie is a "sandwich" made with cubes of meat that have been marinated overnight in a special sauce, skewered, and spit-grilled. The reason that the word sandwich is in quotes is that the spiedie only becomes a sandwich when a piece of thick-cut bread or a split roll is used like an oven mitt to pull the meat off the skewer.

There are several folks who claim credit for the spiedie and I choose to go with a gentleman named Agostino Iacovelli who came from Abruzzi, Italy, in 1923 and settled in Endicott, New York (just west of Binghamton). In 1939 Augie Iacovelli opened a restaurant and began serving an Italian dish of spit-roasted lamb that had been marinated in a wine vinegar, garlic, and mint sauce. Thus was the spiedie born. The name is derived from the Italian word spiedo, which means spit.

Although the original spiedies were lamb, these days they can be made of anything: chicken, beef, pork, venison, or [gasp] just vegetables. If by some odd chance you find yourself in the Binghamton neighborhood in August, you can go and sample all manner of spiedies at the annual Spiedie Fest cook-off.

When I was first researching this, I discovered that the Iacovelli family still lives in the area and I eventually tracked down Augie Iacovelii's great granddaughter . . . on Facebook of all places. I corresponded with her and she sent me the list of ingredients that her great-grandfather used to make his spiedie sauce. It did not include any proportions, but I played around and came up with the following recipe. I also decided to take the basic structure of the spiedie sauce and sort of mess with it, so I'm including a bunch of variations on the sauce.

Spiedies

Makes 12 spiedies
Spiedies are always marinated, sometimes for up to a week, but always for at least 24 hours. For a traditional spiedie, you're supposed to pull the meat off the skewer using a slice of bread as a mitt...and then you eat the bread, of course. However a split roll or a hot dog bun would do the job nicely.

Spiedie Sauce
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed through a press
2 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Meat & Vegetables
1 pound well-trimmed boneless beef sirloin, cut into 1-inch chunks (to get 36 pieces)
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks (to get 36 pieces)
1 large red onion
2 yellow, orange or red bell peppers, cut into 1-inch squares (to get 36 pieces)

For serving
12 slices firm-textured Italian bread (size should match the skewered food)

1. Make the spiedie sauce: In a screwtop jar, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, mint, basil, parsley, salt and pepper. Let sit for 1 or 2 hours to develop flavors. Measure out 1/3 cup and set aside for serving later.
2. Prepare the meat: Pour the remaining sauce into a shallow nonaluminum container large enough to hold the meat in a single layer. Add the beef and chicken and toss to coat. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours, turning once or twice if you think of it.
3. Thirty minutes before you're ready to cook, soak twelve 8-inch wooden skewers in water.
4. Prepare the grill or preheat the broiler. Halve the onion lengthwise. Pull the layers of onion apart and cut into 1-inch squares (you need 36).
5. Thread each skewer with 3 each of beef cubes, chicken cubes, onion squares and pepper squares, in this order (starting from the bottom of the skewer): chicken, pepper, beef, onion.
6. Grill or broil the skewers 6 inches from the heat for 5 to 6 minutes, turning once or twice, until the chicken is cooked through but still juicy.
7. To serve, give each person a slice of bread to use as a mitt for pulling the meat and vegetables off the skewer, and in the process making a sandwich. Pass the reserved spiedie sauce for drizzling over the sandwich.

Thai Spiedie Sauce
Follow the recipe for Spiedies, but use this marinade instead.

3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
5 tablespoons lime juice
2 teaspoons honey
3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed through a press
3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves
3 tablespoons minced fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

In a screwtop jar, combine the oil, vinegar, lime juice, honey, garlic, mint, basil, salt, pepper flakes and black pepper. Let sit for 1 or 2 hours to develop flavors. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside for serving later.
Makes 1-3/4 cups

French Spiedie Sauce
Follow the recipe for Spiedies, but use this marinade instead.

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed through a press
2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a screwtop jar, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon zest, lemon juice, garlic, chives, parsley, tarragon, salt and pepper. Let sit for 1 or 2 hours to develop flavors. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside for serving later.
Makes 1-3/4 cups

Mexican Spiedie Sauce
Follow the recipe for Spiedies, but use this marinade instead. Toast the cumin in a small ungreased skillet. Watch carefully so it doesn't burn, and scrape it out of the pan as soon as it's done so it doesn't keep cooking from the residual heat in the pan.

3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed through a press
4 teaspoons minced fresh jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup minced cilantro
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin, toasted
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a screwtop jar, combine the oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, jalapeno, cilantro, parsley, oregano, salt, cumin and pepper. Let sit for 1 or 2 hours to develop flavors. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside for serving later.
Makes 1 3/4 cups

Chinese Spiedie Sauce
Follow the recipe for Spiedies, but use this marinade instead.

10 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
6 tablespoons red wine vinegar
6 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons finely minced fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, grated or crushed through a press
2 tablespoons minced flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a screwtop jar, combine the vegetable oil, sesame oil, vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Let sit for 1 or 2 hours to develop flavors. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside for serving later.
Makes 1 3/4 cups