NBC DFW: Dallas Cowboys Prepare To Feed 90,000 At Thanksgiving Day Game
The kitchens at AT&T Stadium in Arlington are buzzing with activity. An assembly line of cooks will work from 4 a.m. until midnight every day to get ready to serve Thanksgiving meals for 90,000 people.
“Just picture how you do it at home, but on a much larger scale to feed 90,000 people,” executive chef Tony Sinese said. “We try not to mess with tradition.”
Cooks are preparing 9,200 pounds of turkey, 1,200 pounds of sweet potatoes, 2,700 pounds of green bean casserole, 5,100 pounds of mac and cheese and 420 gallons of gravy. That’s just a few things on the menu.
“All of our vendors, they’re pretty much almost out of food right now because we’ve ordered everything and everyone is making a mad dash to get Thanksgiving done,” Sinese said.
Planning for AT&T Stadium’s Thanksgiving meals started nine months ago. Each course has its own kitchen.
“We have our own vegetable kitchen… where they’re getting prepared for everything in this dedicated ready-to-eat kitchen that is just cold food,” Sinese said. “They’re blanching the vegetables right over here, so that way they’re nice, bright, crisp, green vegetables.”
The stadium will have everything from traditional Thanksgiving plates to an entire meal in a pie for the fans in the stands.
For home chefs, the stadium’s executive chef had one piece of advice.
“Get somebody else to clean up,” Sinese said. “Go Cowboys!”