2009 Riggiefest in Utica, NY on April, 25, 2009

This year's Riggiefest (Chicken Riggies, a Central NY specialty) is being held on April 25, 2009 from 12 noon to 3 pm at The Utica Memorial Auditorium.  $10 for adults, $5 for kids ages 6-12 and FREE for ages 5 and under.  So far, 6 restaurants are competing for the title!

Check out the weblink below for tickets, directions and more info:
http://www.wix.com/YWCAMV/Riggiefest

Well, are you going?

What's a Riggie??

How do you pronounce Riggie? Like ridge or like pig.

Is it like the Spiedie that started in Endicott, NY and took over Binghamton? Binghamton has Spiedies and their Spiedie Festival.  
http://www.spiediefest.com/main.aspx
 
A Spiedie is a sandwich made from chopped marinated chicken. I bought one once from one of those roadside guys that had the typical 250-gallon home fuel oil tank that’s cut in half and hinged that they use for barbequing. They’re everywhere up there. It was uniquely the worst sandwich that I ever ate. It was made from virtually tasteless chucks of chicken laid out on a dry roll.


I hope those Riggies are better.

It's slang for rigatoni.   Rhymes with piggie.

Thanks, MiamiDon!

I looked around on the net and couldn't find a pic. I hope that somebody will post one

I'm sure that billyboy has a picture, and he'll post one.

Food_Fan, 

Riggies are a totally different animal that Spiedies.  Sounds like you might have had a bad rendition of a spiedie.  When they are done right, they are excellent.  The thing is, with only three ingredients: meat, marinade and bread, all of them have to be great as they each play key role.  Here is the Roadfood review for Sharkey's in Binghamton, NY (generally considered to be the birthplace of the Spiedie: 
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=437
I've had really good spiedies at the Great NY State Fair in Syracuse and many restaurants make spiedies and the Rochester based Wegman's supermarket sell Salamida's Spidies and Chicken Bar-B-Que sauces so you can make them at home.

As far as Riggies go, I've been eating them for years and it's a pasta dish made with rigatoni, tomato sauce, white wine, cream, green and red peppers, onions, olives and hot peppers. I've seen it a lot in Utica and Rome and it has spread as far as Old Forge and Cooperstown. I'm not sure who or what restaurant is credited with creating the dish or if there even is such a history. Almost any Italian restaurant in Central NY has it on their menu and most places have their own twist on it.

Teddy's restaurant in Rome, NY. This is where i've had most of my riggies. They offer three different versions: Chicken, Shrimp or Sausage Riggies. You can also get them with or without the hot peppers.
http://www.roadfood.com/Reviews/Overview.aspx?RefID=4381

An order of Sausage Riggies from Teddy's

An order of Shrimp Riggies from Teddy's

Sorry I don't have any photos on hand of a Chicken Riggies dish. The chicken used in it is boneless chunks of chicken. Hope this was helpful.

BillyBoy,
       Thank you very much for the GREAT pics!!!! Those plates look fantastic and it looks like they finished the sauce off with a nice dollop of butter.
 
This sounds and looks like something that I make when I have a variety of leftovers and join them all together to make one dish. I just vary the herbs and spices to match the leftovers. It always turns out great. How can you loose with a garlicky pink sauce?
 
I have some leftover Italian sausage and I’d like to make that Riggie dish but I’m afraid that I have to ask you a couple of more questions. I hope that you don’t mind.
 
You said that they use “hot peppers”. By the looks of your photos it seems like there are hot pickled (red) cherry peppers on the plate. Is that right? It also seems that they only use black olives. Is that right? If so, I need to get to the store and buy some of both. The only hot peppers that I keep on hand are dried hot chili peppers.
 
If you like, I’ll post a pic of the finished product.
 
Thanks and again, great pics!!!

billyboy,
         Never mind about my questions about the Riggie recipe. I searched and found the recipe for the 2005, 2006, and 2007 Riggiefest winner, Teddy’s of Rome, NY. They weren’t allowed to compete last year because they won 3 years in a row but they were inducted into the Hall of Fame..
 
This is a small video of the Riggie Fest in Utica, NY
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdTHPw9IC1s
 

Food_fan, 

Sounds good.  Actually, Teddy's is in Rome, NY.  I did a Roadfood review for Teddy's a couple of years ago.  I forgot to mention that Riggies usually has mushrooms in it too.  

A couple of things when I make Riggies:

1.) I usually grate the onion on a box grater as it helps to break it down and add good onion flavor to the dish without the texture or too strong onion flavor.  It melts into the dish.  

2.)  I'm not exactly sure what peppers are used exactly.  It may vary from recipe to recipe.  I would guess hot cherry peppers and/or Italian long hots.  I wouldn't got with anything too strong of a flavor like habaneros or chipotles as they might distract from the other flavors in the diish.

3.)  As far as the cream is concerned, if you plan on freezing it for later consumption. don't add the cream until you reheat it as it may not freeze well.   
Happy Eating!!

billyboy,
       Thanks for pointing out my error. I must have been thinking about Utica as I typed it. I went back and made the change.

I've assembled all of the ingredients and as soon as the liquor store opens I'll have the last, a dry white wine.

Since Teddy's recipe specifies hot cherry peppers, mushrooms and Alfredo sauce I bought a nice thick mushroom Alfredo sauce to go with the mushrooms I already have on hand.

As for freezing, there ain't gonna be nothin' left to freeze!

First batch will be my leftover Italian sausage and the second will be the classic chicken.

I'm going to use Rigatoni and separately either Rotini or Rotelle.

I think I'll call the one with the Rotini/Rotelle a Screwie Riggie.