HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Tampa and New Orleans aren’t just two cities proud of their football teams; they’re two cities proud of their food scene. The tastes and smells coming from the parking lot Monday night might be just as enjoyable as the game itself.
Alessi Bakery is only a few miles from Raymond James Stadium, making it a last-minute stop before kick-off.
They plan to sell dozens of trays of Cuban Sliders.
“It’s a traditional Cuban stuffed on the inside and then it’s on a potato roll,” said manager Marleny Camba.
However, not all the bakery’s specialties have Cuban in the name.
“This is our double crab, it’s got blue crab meat on the inside and it’s fried,” said Camba displaying another mouth-watering dish.
Allessi says they know fans are eager to get to the game, so they even prepackage their most popular items, like their scachatta.
“Its a pizza dough with a ground beef tomato sauce and a little bit of mozzarella cheese,” said Camba.
Across town, Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen is preparing to sprinkle their own Cajun flare onto the Monday night festivities, starting with the jambalaya.
“We have three different sausages in it; we have our hot sausage on the top, we have Andouille sausage, and we have some ground-up sausage in there; it’s a rice-based dish, tomato meat flavored, little kick to it,” said Tibby’s manager Jake Wheeler.
Wheeler’s family is from New Orleans. His uncle Tibby started the restaurant chain in Florida following Hurricane Katrina.
“All these are family recipes; the jambalaya comes from my papa, the muffuletta, that’s Tibby himself; he loved getting the sandwich from Central Grocery in the French Quarter in New Orleans,” said Wheeler.
Wheeler also won’t let you forget about his grandmother’s favorite, the beignet.
“They are fluffy, powdery, sugary,” said Wheeler.
Both Alessi and Tibby’s hope each fan base puts their football rivalry aside to at least try some of each other’s hometown delicacies.
