Navigating the Super Bowl LIV with a South-Asian Flair
By Faiza Zia Khan
Newport Beach, CA
Yes, it is that time of the year again! The football season is upon us and with that come the parties, the food, the laughs, and the tears. For diehard fans of the sport there is tons of emotional baggage attached to it as they ride the roller coaster of highs and lows with their favorite teams.
I personally am the least vested in the sports arena, but when the Super Bowl comes around I do follow up to see what the Halftime show line up looks like, and check out the Super Bowl themed advertisements. To be honest this is the superficial extent to my level of interest in the sport, but for others it has become a part of their lifestyle.
I don’t have to venture out very far as this has been adopted as a favorite event in my own household. More than a decade ago, hosting Super Bowl parties was a thing with my husband in our own home. Our house would become the football season central. As Pakistanis we innately have a celebratory heritage. We find joy in everything and anything and create excitement around events.
Keeping in line with our cultural traits my husband presented a challenging yet extremely interesting proposition to me around Super Bowl. He asked me to create a fusion model of the Super Bowl party with a Pakistani flair to it. Rewind this to more than a decade ago. In the current google-esq era this is a much less palpable task. However, as the setting for this request was way before the time Google/Pinterest/Instagram prevailed and dominated our lives, the seemingly innocent idea felt surreptitiously inundating.
This tradition started with a simple invite he extended to his cousins to come over and watch the game together. He asked me to prepare something that could easily be consumed in front of the TV in the living room so people are not sitting formally at the table struggling to watch the game and eat at the same time. He also requested it should be something neither him nor the guests have to worry about heating and eating/serving. More like a harmony of finger food with more potential of a meal.
I was tasked with putting together a menu worthy of an edgy Super Bowl party. I thought in my brain, “Faiza, do not relent. You can do this.” I sought advice from a few friends who provided varied suggestions. But the real keeper of an idea came from a friend hailing from the Latino background. She said give the men - meat, meat, meat and they will be happy. This resonated with me and the only thing left was that the menu had to have the Pakistani touch to it. So without google present I went on a spree checking out the offerings at the local sports bars for the event.
Next, started looking for items in the grocery store flyers. I settled with hot chicken wings, chicken tikka sliders, chip and dip platters, nachos, beef tacos and of course pizza (which was to get delivered). I also made a big batch of Sindhi biryani as the main entrée that could be piled on a plate and consumed as-is or heated up quickly in the microwave (if needed) as per the individual guest’s palate.
As I lit the fire under the brimming full of food chafing dishes on the counter like a buffet, the look of approval on my husband’s face showed he was happy with what he saw. I set up a little beverage corner complete with chai and coffee and all kinds of soda. All the serving ware and table cloth etc. were NFL themed. I baked a nice chocolate marble cake and laid out fresh gulab-jamuns in syrup for dessert. My husband was over the moon. He did not have to do any heating or serving as the food was all laid out.
My husband transformed the entire room with both the team colors, flags, and any paraphernalia he could lay his hands on. I volunteered to go hang out with a friend while the guys got the house to themselves. As the friends arrived to camp out in our family room in front of the big screen TV, I knew this my cue to leave. The boys had a great time at the Super Bowl in the comfort of our living room. As time went by his enthusiasm became less and we started getting invited to other Super Bowl parties before we sent out our invite. The Super Bowl party fervor fizzled out over time in our household. This year as the time came my husband got invited to a Super Bowl party hosted by one our dear friends. This made me write about it and how over the decades we have embraced the Super Bowl as our own.
Historically, the first Super Bowl game was played on January 15, 1967, when the National Football League (NFL) champion Green Bay Packers (13-2) defeated the American Football League (AFL) champion Kansas City Chiefs (12-2-1) by a score of 35–10. Since then it became a phenomenon but went through an evolution process. AFL founder and Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt jokingly referred to the proposed game as the Super Bowl, after watching a group of kids play with a toy called a “Super Ball.” The name was consistent with college “bowl” games, and became the permanent football championship moniker.
Prior to the early 1990s, the halftime show was based around a theme, and featured university marching bands, drill teams, and other performance ensembles. Starting from 1991, the halftime show began to feature pop music acts such as New Kids on the Block and Gloria Estefan. Once the media found an increase in viewer interest and enhanced ratings, Super Bowl XXVII featured a headlining performance by Michael Jackson. After Super Bowl XXXVIII, the halftime show began to feature classic rock acts until the return of headlining pop musicians in 2011. Since 2013, Pepsi is the official sponsor of the halftime show. Now the sky is the limit for Super Bowl shenanigans.
I am already excited to see what the next Super Bowl brings for us.
(Faiza Zia Khan holds a Master’s in Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has collaborated with news media outlets including Global National and actively volunteers for several community investment projects for the Red Cross, United Way and the Breast Cancer Foundation)
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