SPIEDIES

Inscription

SPIEDIES
BROOME CO. SPECIALTY AS EARLY
AS 1938, SKEWERED CHUNKS OF
MARINATED MEAT, CHARBROILED &
SERVED ON BREAD. CELEBRATED AT
"SPIEDIE FEST" STARTING 1983.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2024

As early as 1938, Broome County residents have been cooking up a unique dish consisting of skewered chucks of marinated meat, such as lamb, chicken, beef, or pork. Charbroiled and usually served on Italian bread, these tender morsels make up the dish known locally as spiedies.

Believed to have been brought to the area by those of Italian ancestry, spiedies were first made popular at local restaurants, including Camillo “The Spiedi King” Iacovelli’s Park View Restaurant in Endicott (Press and Sun-Bulletin, December 15, 1938, 30). So adored, the dish continues to be popular at area restaurants and is now enjoyed at home barbecues as well. To show their love for spiedies, and to see who has the best recipe, folks have gathered annually since 1983 to celebrate the dish at the “Spiedie Fest” held in Broome County’s Otsiningo Park in Binghamton.

Highlighting spiedies cross-generational appeal, this Broome County staple, which has been a part of the culinary landscape of the region as far back as 1938, now has a historical marker as of 2024 thanks to a group of dedicated students at the Tiger Ventures program in the Union-Endicott Central School District. Led by social studies and geography teacher Ryan Page, the students conducted primary source research, worked on the inscription, and successfully submitted an application demonstrating the historical significance of the spiedie to the region. The project was completed through the Pomeroy Foundation’s education program.