Pat LaFrieda’s Top 10 Tips for a Tasty Tailgate
Photo credit: Evan Sung
Pat LaFrieda knows his pigskin — and veal loin, and rack of lamb, and tenderloin, too. He and his family run their 90-year-old butcher business, where they deliver custom blends of meats and poultry to hundreds of restaurants, hotels and online customers. You’ll find LaFrieda beef in custom blends of burgers for Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack and the famed $30 Black Label Burger at New York’s Minetta Tavern. In October, LaFrieda, who joined the family business in the mid-90s after a brief stint on Wall Street, will teach a three-day butchery class at the International Culinary Center in New York.
On game day, LaFrieda presides over a 36,000 square foot headquarters in New Jersey, which the company opened in 2010 after operating for decades from New York City’s West Village. They process enough meat to feed more than 300,000 people a day. “I used to tailgate quite a bit, but since I now regularly start my work week at the facilities on Sunday evening, most of my “tailgates" are at home with my family,” he told us.
Still, the meat master knows what makes for a successful tailgate, and his go-to recipe is his skirt steak pinwheels. “This dish was popular with retail butchers in the 1940s and 1950s,” he says. “Angelo Bonsangue, a butcher who worked with us on Leroy Street, taught me how to make them.” Below, LaFrieda shares the recipe and his top 10 tips for a killer game-day bash.
1. Make a check-list: “I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a tailgate where once we get to the parking lot, my friends are saying how they have forgotten ice and/or an appetizer or dessert in the fridge,” says LaFrieda. Make a list and check it twice.
2. Be an early bird: Get to the stadium with plenty of time to snag a prime parking spot and prep your food. “You only have so much time before kick-off and you’ll want to savor every minute of your tailgate,” says LaFrieda. Don’t forget to pop a few beers in the cooler while you prep.
3. Mark your territory and be easy to find: The aroma of your honey BBQ chicken wings may draw a crowd, but you should nevertheless make your vehicle as easy as possible for pals to find. “I either try to park underneath a marked light fixture or fly a flag way above my car,” says LaFrieda. “This way when they call me, I can say ‘I’m parked directly underneath the G parking section pillar’ or ‘Look up to find the Giants helmet flag, we’re underneath that.”
Photo: Lisovskaya Natalia/The Picture Pantry/Corbis
4. Offer a variety: La Frieda’s tailgate menu includes a selection of sliders, sausages, and several drinks. “There’s always plenty of beer, but for earlier games, I like to bring some OJ and champagne as well as all the fixings for Bloody Marys,” he says.
5. Meet your fellow tailgater: Make friends with your tailgate neighbor, who most likely is also rooting for the home team. “You already have one thing in common, so chat them up and combine parties,” says LaFrieda. Share stats on your favorite players, recipes, grilling tools, and, naturally, grub. “Who knows, you might even start a tradition with them where you’re having a massive tailgate every week. When it comes to tailgates, the more the merrier.”
6. Be aware of the weather: Watch the forecast before you head out, and pack gear for changing conditions. “The football season presents all sorts of weather complications,” says LaFrieda. “Bring a load of ponchos, hand warmers, and extra socks.”
7. Bring jumper cables/generators: Don’t let your car radio or portable kegerator drain your car battery. “Be sure to either turn the ignition on all the way, use a generator, or bring jumper cables in the unfortunate scenario that your car battery dies.”
8. Label your coolers: “I find it useful to label and sort them so people aren’t constantly opening different coolers looking for the beverage of their choice,” says LaFrieda. “I like to label them as “Beer,” “Wine & Liquor” and “Water & Soda.” The fewer times people pop open the coolers looking for their desired beverage, the cooler the drinks stay.
9. Bring trash bags and clean up after yourselves: Bring plenty of trash bags, and use them, LaFrieda says. “There’s nothing worse than being the guy who leaves an enormous mess in the stadium parking lot. It’s rude, inconsiderate, and disgusting.”
10. Have fun: Remember it’s just sports. “Tailgates are meant to be fun and bring everyone together for some quality eating and drinking before the main event. Welcome everybody (even the away team, as hard as that may be), share some laughs and eat some meat!”
photo credit: Evan Sung
Skirt Steak Pinwheels
Serves 4
2 outside skirt steaks (about 11/2 pounds each), trimmed of excess fat
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (about 2 cups)
4 lemons
1 ½ cups finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves
Lay the skirt steak out on your work surface and season it on both sides with the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cheese over the steak, leaving a half-inch border with no topping. Grate the lemon zest from all 4 lemons directly onto the steak and sprinkle the parsley on top of the lemon zest. Starting at one of the short ends, roll the skirt steak from one end to the other. Tie a butcher’s knot in the center of the roll.
Then tie two more butcher’s knots in the center of each side. Cut the roll in half along the first knot (remove the string) to form two wheels of equal size.
Preheat a grill or a grill pan over high heat.
Place the pinwheels cut side down on the grill or in the pan and cook them until they’re browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Serve one pinwheel per person.
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