Spiedini

Spiedini, also known as spiedies, are skewers of marinated, charcoal-cooked meat. They have Italian antecedents, but the American version, as created at the erstwhile Binghamton, New York, bar known as Sharkey’s, is something else. Cut from what proprietor Larry Sharak once described as pork sirloin (but often is lamb in local spiedie houses), each cube of charcoal-cooked meat is thoroughly moist but not drippingly so, its fibers saturated with the tang of a garlic marinade in which it soaks before being cooked on a grate behind the bar. One thing that defines the upstate New York Spiedie is its presentation. The cooked skewered meat rests on a slice of plain white bread which rests on a small paper plate. That’s all there is to it. The bread is not interesting, but you need it as a mitt to hold the meat. The custom is to grab the slice in one hand and use it to slide a few hunks of meat off the metal rod, thus creating an instant sandwich. Condiments are irrelevant.