Jeff Mauro And Yellow Tail Team Up For The Big Game

In honor of the Super Bowl, celebrity chef Jeff Mauro has teamed up with Australian-based wine brand Yellow Tail to bring both wine and delicious sandwiches to multiple cities across the country ending in Minneapolis for the big game, including a stop in New York City, where they met up with The Daily Meal.

During last year's Super Bowl, Yellow Tail became the first wine brand to advertise during the big game in 40 years. This year, it's looking to do one better as it embarks on a cross-country tour towards Minneapolis.

Making 32 stops in nine different cities, the custom-branded Yellow Tail food truck features sandwiches especially designed by Mauro, host of Food Network shows The Sandwich King and The Kitchen, to accompany their wines. After a stop in Boston, the food truck met up with Mauro on January 11 and 12 in New York City, where they shared some of his creations with us.

Before digging into his creations, The Daily Meal staff got a rundown from Mauro, who has shared his sandwich tips with us before. Talking about his Pig Candy BLT, Mauro described it as a "slow carmelized and smoked brittle pig candy... It's beautiful. On that, we have a barbecue mayo, fresh roman tomatoes that we season, romaine lettuce, and to add a little more fun, a little more depth of flavor, we have caramelized onions." The pastrami reuben, he said, "is a nice, smoky pastrami instead of your traditional corned beef" with a "nice, cakey 'kraut." Made on buttered marble rye and then grilled all together, the sandwich also contains aged Swiss cheese and Mauro's "18,000 Island" dressing (which, he claims, is "17,000 times better" than Thousand Island dressing).

The bright yellow truck, which featured the brand mascots, Yellow Tail Guy and Yellow Tail 'Roo, also featured a veggie Buffalo cauliflower sandwich with blue cheese crumbles, lettuce, tomato, and ranch dressing served on a grilled buttered brioche.

"I'm a huge fan of football and tailgating, so I am excited to partner with Yellow Tail to bring a fresh approach to game-time hospitality," Mauro explained in a press release promoting the collaboration. "Lots of people are drinking wine at tailgates and game-watching parties — these recipes are perfectly matched to go with a wine like Yellow Tail and make the occasion special."

The food truck went on to make additional stops without Mauro in Philadelphia; Melbourne, Tarpon Springs, Land O Lakes, and Seminole in Florida; New Orleans; and Houston and Dallas in Texas. Mauro will meet back up with the truck on February 1 in Minneapolis, where he will be on the NFL's Radio Row for interviews with various media outlets. After that, Mauro will be at his Minneapolis restaurant, Pork & Mindy's, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. to host a special event. The event, which will have people from the Minneapolis restaurant community, Yellow Tail retailers, and media outlets in attendance, will feature a demonstration by Mauro on the preparation of his recipes, which will be served along with Yellow Tail wine.

The wine brand has another commercial spot this year during the Super Bowl, which will be revealed ahead of the game sometime this week. Tom Steffanci, president of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, the U.S. importer and marketer for Yellow Tail, feels that Jeff Mauro was the natural choice for their branding.

"Since launching in the U.S. in 2001, Yellow Tail made wine fun and approachable for millions of consumers previously turned off by wine pretention," said Tom Steffanci, President of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits, U.S. importer and marketer for Yellow Tail. "Just like the Yellow Tail brand, Jeff Mauro has the courage and desire to be different, to make high quality food fun and approachable."

A sweepstakes is also taking place amid all this, and anyone who encounters the food truck as it makes its way towards the Twin Cities is encouraged to snap a photo and post it to social media with the hashtags #YellowTailgate and #sweepstakes to enter for a chance to win a trip for two to Australia. The Yellow Tail food truck's tour is also aiming to raise awareness for Rise Against Hunger, a worldwide hunger relief organization which the brand has promised to make contributions to.

If you're looking to figure out your own menu for the Big Game, check out our ranking of the most popular foods for a Super Bowl party.