Cover Story

Tailgating Tales & Tips

Joe Cahn warms up outside the Superdome in New Orleans.

By Ann Marie Quill

Fred Chaiken (center) celebrates his birthday with his family and tailgating friends.

If you ask Joe Cahn what motivates sports fans year after year to congregate in stadium parking lots before their favorite team takes to the field, he'll tell you it's not just the food and drink.

"Tailgating has become the new American social — the last great American neighborhood," he says. "It's the only place where the whole community gets together, regardless of politics, religion, race, economics, age — a 10-year-old can talk to a 70-year-old and feel at home. In neighborhoods, fences were once used just to keep dogs in; now there are privacy fences. But in the tailgating parking lot you can walk through a thousand back yards."

Cahn is the self-appointed "Commissioner of Tailgating." In 1996 he sold his business, the New Orleans School of Cooking, and bought a motor home. "I'm a fan of Charles Kuralt and wanted to do a cooking show. A taste-of-America-type show. I decided the best way to do this was to travel around the country, go to every stadium in the NFL one season and live in a motor home," Cahn says during a phone interview while driving his RV from Pennsylvania to Green Bay, Wis., for a preseason game. "But I so fell in love with this thing called 'tailgating,' I decided to keep it up."

Cahn, now a "professional tailgater," makes a living by finding sponsorships. "It's not a lot of money, but I never go hungry," he says. In less than 12 years, he's attended close to 500 tailgates and has driven the "JoeMobile" more than 300,000 miles to all 31 NFL stadiums, 114 college stadiums and nine NASCAR tracks.

For Fred Chaiken of Atlanta, tailgating, indeed, has been about making new friends. He's been tailgating at Falcons games with his wife, sister-in-law and sons for about four years now.

"We park in the [Georgia Dome] Gulch. We get down there early, cook, play cards, throw a football around," he says. "We met a really nice group of folks parked next to us. We needed to borrow something. They sort of invited us to join them. Over time we started cooking together. It got to the point where we decided they were better cooks than us. So we bring the appetizers and desserts. They get down there really early and save our parking spot. Even from year to year, we don't even have to say anything — they know we are going to be there. We never would have met otherwise. Last year — it was really nice — on my 50th birthday when we arrived, all these balloons were up. One of the women had baked a big birthday cake."

Ellen Goodrich of Milledgeville has been making the trek to Athens to tailgate with her family at UGA games for 36 years. She points out that's no big deal as she once drove her daughters, now grown, to a synagogue in Macon for their religious education several times week.

In 36 years, you're sure to develop some traditions.

"This sounds crazy, but every time I set up picnic tables, and I always use red and black fabric cloths and fabric napkins and wash them. In the last year we started using stainless-steel knives, forks and spoons," Goodrich says. "Who all will be coming can be anywhere from six to 18 people. When my girls were in undergrad, we would have some of their friends as well. My husband's brother and his wife tailgate with us."

She says she usually picks up fried chicken from Publix, and her family demands she make her coleslaw and potato salad, but the menu will vary from season to season. "When it's cold, we'll have kosher hot dogs and chili."

Goodrich says her family always goes to all the home games. But "we will have to miss one this year because we have a wedding to go to. My son is very upset." Goodrich says every year before the festivities begin she loads up her white minivan early with a rolling cart with drawers containing paper plates, napkins and cutlery, tablecloths on hangers, and folding tables, some with seats built in.

"And we always take extra chairs," she says.

Cahn says this hospitality is not necessarily limited to the South. "Most people say that we as Southerners are more hospitable, but people coming out to tailgate are going to be more hospitable anyway."

Cahn considers himself a citizen of whatever city he happens to be in, wearing that team's colors. What's his favorite city? "Whatever city I'm in." What's his favorite food? "Whatever I'm eating." However, he says he tends to prefer finger food because it's easier to eat while he is walking around and visiting. Cahn has a particular tailgating story he likes to tell.

"I was walking around the Dolphin Stadium parking lot taking photos, and this guy who had beautiful food on his grill said, 'Why don't you join us? I bet you this is the only kosher tailgate you'll ever go to.'

"I told him in Baltimore I found a great kosher tailgate with matzah, Manischewitz, gefilte fish, lox — the only thing missing was a purple yarmulke. "He said, 'Well, this is probably the only kosher tailgate with its own rabbi.' "I asked him what tailgating means to him, and he said 'the social interaction.' "I asked the rabbi, 'Is there a blessing for the Dolphins?'

"He said, 'There's a blessing for everything, but when it comes to the Dolphins, it's been Kaddish.' "

Cahn says he's also working on a joke, but he only has the beginning down. "A rabbi, a priest and a minister meet at a tailgate. . . . I don't have the punchline yet, but it's going to have to be a Monday game."

Tailgating Tips - From Joe Cahn

1. Dress in team colors. Wear a team jersey or sweat shirt. You are the 12th man on the team . . . the first player on the tailgating team. Show your team spirit. Tailgaters are the best fans.
2. Plan your menu and do prep work a day or two before the game. Keep the menu simple and pack prepared food in disposable containers.
3. Make a list of the items you want to take along. Check off items as you pack. Pack paper products (plates, napkins, towels, forks, spoons, etc.) the night before. Remember such items as a small first-aid kit, trash bags, water and damp towels in Ziplocs to clean hands and face.
4. Plan to arrive three to four hours early and stay one to two hours after the game.
5. Find a good spot to park. Not all parking spaces are created equal. Park next to a grassy area or at the end of the parking row — this gives you more room for serious tailgating.
6. Fly a flag on a very high pole so friends can find you.
7. Decorate your tailgate site with team pennants and other team stuff.
8. Meet your tailgate neighbors, throw the football with friends, read the Sunday paper and have a good time. Note: If attending a Thursday or Saturday game, substitute appropriate newspaper.
9. Food should be ready 1 1/2 hours before the game starts. This is plenty of time for those going to the game to eat, clean up and extinguish fires. (Those not going to the game can pull out the generator and TV.) Share food with neighbors. Swap recipes.
10. Leave area clean. Begin thinking about food and friends for the next game.

— www.tailgating.com

The Commissioner's Top 10 Tailgating Must-Haves

1. Jumper cables. After a great tailgate party, some would love to stay in the parking lot forever, but everyone might not share that thought.
2. Toilet paper. The MVP (most valuable product) of the parking lot. Don't get caught with your pants down in a Port-A-Potty with no TP.
3. Plastic trash bags for cleanup. Dedicated tailgaters always respect their surroundings and leave them clean.
4. Extra ice. There is no excuse to ever run out of ice. Just bring a full extra ice chest and enjoy.
5. Rain gear. When everybody else is in their car or truck, you'll still be cookin'!
6. First-aid kit. Just in case the football hits you in the head.
7. Sunblock. Even if you burn the food, there is no reason for you to burn.
8. A friend. Change the life of a loved one. Bring them to their first tailgate party.
9. Comfortable shoes. Sometimes we forget how much we visit fellow tailgaters, and with the right shoes you can walk to your stomach's content.
10. Antacid. With all the foods consumed at the tailgate, we need some help. Remember, defense wins championships.

— www.tailgating.com

A Different Potato Salad

Ellen Goodrich says she got the following recipe from an old Atlanta Humane Society cookbook and that her family demands she make it for every tailgating party.

• 5 lbs. of russet potatoes
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup, chopped, pimiento-stuffed green olives
• 1 cup, chopped, black olives
• salt, pepper
• Wishbone Italian dressing
• summer savory, dried
• tarragon, dried
• parsley, dried
• chervil, dried
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise

Put potatoes, unpeeled, into pot of cold water. Boil until just tender. Let cool just until you can handle them. Peel and slice a few at a time and add some of all other ingredients, except for mayonnaise. It is all up to your own taste. The Wishbone dressing needs to be absorbed by the warm potatoes, along with the onion flavor. After all is peeled, sliced and added to, then add mayonnaise and chill.

Sometimes, I also add chopped green bell pepper.