Published: Canberra Times, Food and Wine, 21 September 2004
The aroma of liniment and freshly-cut grass wafts through the air. Mud is being cleaned off worn leather boots. It is September, and that means football finals time in Australia.
My earliest memories of sporting events involve the iconic Australian meat pie. Indeed, Australians are one of the world’s biggest consumers of pies – an average person consumes more than 12 pies a year, and a further 17 combined pastries or sausage rolls.
At half time we’d make our way to the front of queues rivaling those of perestroika in length, and race our pies back to our seats as the siren blared for the next half. The pies were invariably cold and the drinks hot. The sauce might be cast into the wind on occasions. It didn’t seem to matter, and neither did the fact that according to research conducted by the Australian Consumers Association in 2002, about 10-15 per cent of pies sampled do not meet a minimum 25 per cent meat content set by the Food Standards Authority.
There was great concern in Melbourne in the mid-1990s when the legendary Four and Twenty pie – an icon of AFL football – fell into the hands of US company Simplot. As footy clubs were undergoing mergers and takeovers, it was another indication for some fans that the game was going the way of big money interests. The shift offshore, however, was fairly short-lived with Simplot divesting its interests to a Bairnsdale-based company last year. A lack of potential for market growth and innovation was the reason offered for the decision.
While the iconic pie may be back in Australian hands, it faces a stiff challenge as staple stadium nosh. One trend that would annoy patriots is the rise of the hot dog. With clever marketing as the ‘footy frank’, this US institution gained market share in recent decades. Its origins, however, are in the game of baseball. As legend goes, an American cartoonist coined the term after observing a vendor selling a ‘hot daschund sausage’ during a baseball game in New York early last century. He sketched a cartoon depicting a real daschund dog inside a bun, accompanied by the caption ‘get your hot dogs’.
The pie and the hot dog, though, face much wider challenges. Consumer groups, in particular, have actively campaigned against the much-maligned pie, revealing to faithful pie lovers that they can contain 20-40 per cent of the recommended daily salt intake.
It is part of a much wider trend in stadium food. According to Paul Smales, catering manager for Eurest Australia at the Canberra Stadium, Australians are demanding more interesting and varied food in their general lives, and this is being felt at sporting venues. He has 27 years experience overseeing the boundaries and terraces to prove it.
“Audiences at sporting matches are far more multicultural now – we have many people of Asian and European origins, and they have bought their tastes to the stadium,” he said. In particular, there is increasing demand for fresh ingredients, variety and ethnic cuisine.
“We have a Thai beef salad, Singapore noodles, Greek and Caesar salad at the stadium now. About 800 kilos of Singapore noodles are cooked up in a period of an hour and a half during Brumbies matches.”
Healthy lifestyles are also an important factor. “There are still plenty of people that prefer the one-hand-food such as a pie and a beer. The cold weather, in particular, means a hot bucket of chips is still a top seller. However, we also offer plenty of low-fat wraps and salad rolls – even sushi at some outlets. Our menus also include indications of healthy options in the form of a tick,” he said.
It is part of a wider global trend. Even in the United States eating options have significantly improved for sporting patrons in recent years. Interesting choices include fast-food Japanese outlets at the LA Dodger’s Stadium, and at San Francisco – tofu hot dogs, a 40-clove garlic chicken sandwich, clam chowder and crab cakes.
Another key influence on stadium food is the quality of the stadiums themselves. “We now have great kitchen facilities, equipment and the layout to do much more. We can ensure that food is served at the right temperature. We employ around 350 staff at each game, and even have an electrician, plumber and builder on site to fix problems immediately,” said Smales.
The move to quality facilities and expanded on-site dining rooms began in the 1980s with the introduction of the much-vilified corporate box. Sporting clubs seeking to maximise sponsorship realised the value of hosting business clients and associates on Saturday afternoons. Clients attended footy in suits, consuming chardonnay and smoked salmon canapes while ordinary folk on the terraces negotiated their cold pies in the rain. “At Canberra stadium we can now offer corporate dinners from 2-4 courses, with buffets ranging from $50 to $100 per head,” said Smales.
The facilities on offer at recent Olympic Games demonstrate how far stadium catering has come. At Sydney, the Olympic Stadium boasted eight delicatessens, four banquet rooms, a gold and platinum dining room and a ballroom for 100 people. Edna’s Table, a Sydney restaurant engaged in catering for journalists and commentators, provided kangaroo and wallaby dishes.
In Athens, a 3,900m2 kitchen was built to serve hundreds of tons of meat and produce to athletes, journalists and officials. Months were spent testing appropriate recipes and coping with a proliferation of tastes and needs – koscher, vegetarian, vegan, halal, and even the low-carb conscious were catered for.
If you are heading to a stadium this weekend with more modest facilities, there are a few basic tips for maximising the experience of old-fashioned stadium nosh. Go early while service is better and food is fresher. Get it to your seats as quickly as possible. Consume it as quickly as possible given the high diminishing returns to this food as it looses heat. And don’t spare the condiments – they are likely to significantly enhance flavour, particularly when food is past its best.
Many Canberrans, however, may also confine their football feasts to the living room in coming weekends to catch AFL and Rugby League finals. For avid football fans, you’ll need food that is easily consumed without cutlery, provides minimal opportunity for spillage and does not require eyes to be taken off the television screen. A good quality meat pie (ie no mince-meat) will probably do the trick. Cornucopia Bakery in Braddon offers some of the best around town, with quality ingredients such as chunky steak and beer, or even venison.
Guests with only a passing interest in the match, could be tempted by more interesting options like a range of items from delicatessens at Fyshwick or City markets. Home-made prosciutto or other small-goods are easy to handle, while some of the Poacher’s Pantry smoked meats (eg duck or chicken) can be nicely sliced into manageable pieces. Whether at the stadium or on the sofa, the football feast can be a much more interesting culinary proposition this finals season.