Rugby players are a force to be reckoned with — in the kitchen as well as on the pitch.
“I am out to destroy the myth that all rugby players do is eat fried food and burgers,” says David Martin, author of “The Hooligan’s Table: The Rugby Player’s Cookbook.”
His new guide rounds up some familiar pub staples, like shepherd’s pie and chicken wings, pulled from rugby bars around the world.
The book scores by including quirkier fare, such as beer can chicken and gut bomb pudding, which are as unique as the full-contact English sport that blends elements of football and soccer.
“I was blown away by the diversity of recipes that I collected,” says Martin, 51, a former Daily News reporter and Brooklyn freelance writer who still boots up with the Gentlemen of New York old boys rugby club.
He earned a reputation among his teammates for sniffing out the best local dishes whenever the club traveled to tournaments.
He began tapping teams to share their favorite recipes, but soon realized his cookbook doubled as a playbook to understanding rugby culture.
What other sport sees both teams bellying up to the bar together and sharing a pint after 90 minutes of beating each other to a pulp?
“I tried to show the camaraderie,” says Martin.
“Rugby is still under-the-radar, but not necessarily for long,” he continues. “It’s already on TV. It’s going to be in the Olympics in a couple of years. Every major city has at least one or two teams.”
And each of those teams has its own regular bar that specializes in a different dish.
Martin began collecting recipes in his own backyard, tackling the bars across the boroughs, such as O’Brien’s Bar and Restaurant in Times Square.
Owner Des O’Brien’s pub is the New York Rugby Club’s official bar. The upstairs Sin Bin is decked with rugby balls, jerseys and framed pictures of players.
“There is a culture among rugby players of ferocious appetites, so this book is an interesting angle,” says O’Brien.
His dishes include authentic Irish fish and chips, plus bangers and mash, which run over the competition thanks to his specialized batter that uses a splash of his bar's own Langan’s Ale.
“Anybody who’s ever picked up a rugby ball and has picked up a knife and fork will have something to gravitate to,” says O’Brien. “I can see rugby parties coming out of this book!”
“The Hooligan’s Table” delivers pub grub perfect for noshing while watching the Six Nations Championship, a rugby tournament between European countries that runs until St. Patrick’s Day that Martin calls “the March Madness of rugby.”
The Australian restaurant in midtown (home of the New York Knights rugby club) lends its kangaroo filet mignon with boar bacon to the menu for adventurous foodies.
Or novice chefs can keep things sweet and simple with fried chocolate bars courtesy of the Chip Shop in Park Slope, whose owner, Christopher Sell, hails from Rugby, England, where the sport was born.
“I hope to show you how to cook some things that you’ve probably tried in a bar, along with some recipes that are really interesting that you can use to impress a date,” says Martin.
His favorite picks include the beer can chicken from the Miami Trident rugby football club, which involves drinking half a can of beer before mounting a seasoned chicken on top of it and grilling for an hour and a half.
“It makes the most moist, tender barbecued chicken,” says Martin. “It’s fantastic.”
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YOU SHOULD KNOW
“The Hooligan's Table,” published by iUniverse, is available for $21.95 at TheRugbyCookbook.com.
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Serves: 4
From the Chip Shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn
FOR THE FILLING:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, medium sized, diced
1 carrot diced small
1 pound ground beef
1 14-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or diced if you prefer)
1 teaspoon flour
1 cube beef stock
4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Salt & pepper to taste
FOR THE MASHED POTATOES:
(The Chip Shop does not use milk, cream or garlic powder in their mashed potatoes.)
5 potatoes, peeled and quartered
2 tablespoons salt
¼ cup milk
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup butter
¼ teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
First in a large pot half-filled with water, add salt and get the water boiling, then drop in the potatoes. When you can easily run a knife through them, drain the water and add the milk, cream, butter, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Mix them until they are smooth. Set aside.
In a skillet, heat the vegetable oil and add the carrots and the onions for five minutes. Then add the ground beef to cook for a further 15 minutes until the beef is cooked. Add the flour, and mix in well. Add the canned tomatoes and the beef stock cube and cook for about five minutes. Season to taste.
Now place the meat mixture in the bottom of a medium-size oven proof dish. Cover with the mashed potatoes, then the cheese. Place in an oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until hot and nicely browned.
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