With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, my Hungry Traveler is thinking about feasting BIG TIME.  Events like these are perfect for gathering with friends and family for a celebratory meal. They offer a great reason to eat, drink, and, watch commercials (if that is why you’re tuning in). Use this upcoming game day party as an opportunity to mix it up with your party food options….

My Hungry Traveler has put together game day menu suggestions for you with party foods from America, Europe, and Asia. You can make some-or-all of each region’s menu, or have fun doing a mashup from them all. The key is to make as much as you can in advance so you can spend time with your guests instead of cooking in the kitchen. Buying vs. cooking from scratch some of the “lesser” sides, such as potato and corn chips, will make things easier as well. Let the games begin!

Pregame

Pregame is all about spending time chatting with each other before the game begins. The food should be casual so guests can all talk with each other while munching. Put everything out at once just before guests arrive.

First Half

First Half is a great time for munching on appetizers while yelling at the TV (if that’s your thing). The Olympics have a short viewing duration each night, so it’s best to serve dishes from either the First Half or Halftime menus, or combine them to create a single “food event”. The Super Bowl is a much longer event, so MHT recommends serving the First Half dishes and the Halftime dishes separately.

Americas	Europe	Asia
Buffalo chicken wings	Portuguese chicken bites	Korean chicken wings
Pigs in a blanket	British stilton & walnut pinwheels	Thai galloping horses
Tlayudas (Mexican pizza)	French anchovy & olive flatbread	Chinese scallion pancakes
Baked empanadas	Polish pierogi	Chinese pan-fried dumplings
Crawfish Monica	Austrian Alpine cheese noodles	Chinese dan-dan noodles

Halftime

Halftime – As if the munching and small dishes of incredible food early in the evening isn’t enough, Super Bowl halftime is a time to take it up a level. This orchestrated break is the perfect time to put out a full meal hot foods and sides that have been prepared in advance. The key here to serving so many items at once is to keep warm foods warm through the first half of the game in heated vessels such as crockpots and your oven on low, and to remove cold dishes from the refrigerator right before serving. Plates can be assembled by your guests at a buffet-style table and brought back to their seats in time to catch all the halftime festivities.

Americas	Europe	Asia
Cincinnati chili (5 ways)	Belgian Beef Carbonnade	Indonesian beef rendang
Spaghetti	Buttered egg noodles	Jasmine rice
Tidewater coleslaw	Greek cabbage salad	Korean kimchi
Fire and ice pickles	Danish cucumber salad	Thai cucumber salad
Collard greens	Spanish spinach with pine nuts	Japanese spinach salad

Second Half

Second Half – Once all the serious eating is over, leaving out sweets for folks to eat at their leisure is a great way to finish the culinary games. Decaffeinated or regular coffee is a nice digestive accompaniment to end this major feasting event. Who won? Who knows! All we know is that your event will be a dining event your guests won’t forget.

Americas	Europe	Asia
Pecan pie	Austrian Linzer torte	Korean hotteok pancakes
Chocolate chip cookies	Rugelach	Chinese almond cookies
Banana pudding	Italian zuppa Inglese	Indian instant pot kheer