From the Super Bowl to the Supper Bowl
Chef Tim Lopez at his cookbook launch on August 17, 2025, Philadelphia. Photo courtesy of Tim Lopez
A former Eagles chef tackles all 32 NFL teams — not on the field, but on the plate, in a new cookbook that highlights the deep roots of Latino flavors in football culture.
Words by Rich Tenorio, @rbtenorio
Edited by Patricia Guadalupe, @PatriciagDC
Tim Lopez doesn’t know of any other chef with a Super Bowl ring. He’s got one thanks to being part of the Philadelphia Eagles organization during their championship run following the 2017 regular season.
Lopez no longer cooks in an NFL kitchen – he is a culinary arts instructor at Jules E. Mastbaum High School in Philadelphia. But he still thinks about the league, which was the impetus for a cookbook he released last year – Kickoff Kitchen: 64 Game-Day Recipes Inspired By Every Pro Football Team. It’s perfect for the playoffs and the Super Bowl.
Each NFL team has two recipes connected to it: A “kickoff” dish, or appetizer, and a “halftime” recipe, or main course. Lopez came up with each recipe himself, searching for dishes that reflected the cultures surrounding a stadium’s location. For the Eagles, the appetizer is the cheesesteak egg rolls – “a modern twist on Philadelphia’s iconic cheesesteak sandwich,” says the book, and the main dish is the roast pork sandwiches, which honor the Italian communities of South Philly. The New England Patriots have two seafood recipes, while there are fried green tomatoes for the Carolina Panthers and “brats” (bratwurst) for the Green Bay Packers.
Many recipes have a Latino flavor. There’s elote, or LA street corn, for the Los Angeles Chargers, and beef birria tacos for the Houston Texans. The author himself is Latino; his father is from Pontevedra, Spain, which the younger Lopez notes has excellent seafood and tapas.
“Taking a look at the history of the people that have emigrated from those areas [of Latin America], the population demographics of football, it’s heavy on Latino plates,” Lopez says of the cookbook.
Some of the Latino-themed recipes incorporate the author’s own upbringing. Others reflect Mexican culinary traditions.
Chef Tim, his book and his ring. Photo by Alyssa Termini
“It’s not a fast-food Mexican, like Taco Bell, but closer to some of the different traditional flavors,” he says, noting that the birria recipe is “not something you’re going to get in an Americanized Mexican restaurant … the birria has deep roots in the real way it’s made, the freshest ingredients, the cooking styles that speak to authentic Mexican cuisine.”
The elote recipe is not only an homage to Mexican-American cuisine, but to the vendors who sell street corn in LA.
“I always think of LA and street food,” Lopez tells palabra. “I highlight traditional street foods available in LA. Elote is one of (them). Every time I did the research, talked to people, talked to fan bases, said I’ve got to go with a food from LA, they talked a lot about the food trucks and street vendors.”
That’s how Lopez worked on the book over two-plus years. Unable to visit all 32 NFL team locations, the chef-turned-author used online research and cold-calling restaurants to fill in the blanks when needed.
Chef Tim Lopez, center, top photo, with Eagles players Todd Herremans, Brent Celek, and Connor Barwin. Bottom photo includes Quarterback Nick Foles (left) and backup QB Nate Sudfeld. Photo courtesy of Tim Lopez
As he did so, he got some surprises, including learning the extent to which Latino cuisines have made inroads in the U.S.
“I mean, let’s face it, Latino flavors just go really well with football culture – tailgating and game day eats,” Lopez says. “Latino food is bold and exciting with deep flavors that pretty much please everyone. It’s a real testament to the versatility of this cuisine that it has grown and become so popular in these fan bases.
“You can see how strong Latino culinary influence is in places like Denver and Houston, with their love of green chilies and in dishes like birria, in Arizona, with local Sonoran flavors and influence, and Miami with Cuban flavors.
Chef Tim Lopez. Photo courtesy of Tim Lopez
“Other types of Latino cuisine we see are the staples presented in Los Angeles within the street food scene, like burritos, elote, and tacos, and even to the extent of the use of various Mexican chilies in the deep taste of a Texas red chili.”
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The idea for the book arose over a decade ago, during his days as a chef for the Eagles. He and a fellow chef came up with an idea for a weekly meal heading into game day: “Devour the Competition,” a dish based on the regional cuisine of the Eagles’ next opponent.
“People looked forward to it,” Lopez recalls, “Classic foods from the cities teams hailed from.”
For the cookbook, he says, “I had to have all new recipes, come up with some new recipes, flavors from different teams in the NFL.”
One of his favorite recipes, the Texas red chili, represents the Dallas Cowboys – and a moment in culinary history.
“It’s the first kind of chilli that was popularized in the U.S.,” Lopez explains. “It’s based on an original recipe, closer to a lot of what would be considered chili in Mexico. There are no tomatoes involved, but ancho and guajillo peppers.”
Before coming across this recipe about a decade ago, “I had never made a chili … without using tomatoes. It was fun playing around with dehydrated peppers for an earthy and spicy flavor. I fell in love with Texas Red.”
It just so happens that the Cowboys are the Eagles’ archrival. Lopez acknowledges the perils of a Philly fan liking anything connected to Dallas.
Yet, he says, “Food is universal. You might hate the Dallas Cowboys, but you have to look at the food coming out of Dallas. It’s incredible, some of the best American food we have.”
Lopez has some advice for readers of his cookbook: “Explore and challenge yourself. Make something you’ve never had before, something different, rival recipes … Every single one of them deserves to be enjoyed.”
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Rich Tenorio is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in a variety of media outlets. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Tenorio is also a cartoonist. @rbtenorio
Patricia Guadalupe, raised in Puerto Rico, is a bilingual multimedia journalist based in Washington, D.C., and is the co-managing editor of palabra. She has been covering the capital for both English- and Spanish-language media outlets since the mid-1990s and previously worked as a reporter in New York City. She’s been an editor at Hispanic Link News Service, a reporter at WTOP Radio (CBS Washington affiliate), a contributing reporter for CBS Radio network, and has written for NBC News.com and Latino Magazine, among others. She is a graduate of Michigan State University and has a Master’s degree from the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University. She is the former president of the Washington, D.C., chapter of NAHJ and is an adjunct professor at American University in the nation’s capital and the Washington semester program of Florida International University. @PatriciagDC