Exclusive | Super Bowl LIX is a celebration of New Orleans food culture let the good times roll at your watch party

When it comes to the Super Bowl, the food is the real MVP.As the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles face off in the big game, thousands of fans traveling to New Orleans, Louisiana, are sure to get a taste of the unique city while there.“This isn’t just about the Super Bowl,” chef Lenny Martinsen, executive chef at Caesars Superdome, the home of the New Orleans Saints and host of Super Bowl LIX, told The Post.“This is actually about the city of New Orleans.”Martinsen has been the executive chef for six Super Bowls so far, but this is just the second one he’ll be taking on at his home stadium.

And with the overlap of the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras, he has the chance to really showcase NOLA grub — known for fare like gumbo, jambalaya and bananas Foster — to people from afar.“It’s really cool because you get people that come from all over the world and all over the United States, they come here and they never come to New Orleans because it’s a little town, and you hear about it, you read about and then you realize, wow, it’s a whole new food culture,” Martinsen said.Martinsen and his team of culinary chefs from Sodexo Live! are preparing to serve an estimated 250,000 meals between Fan Fest and Super Bowl LIX — and on game day alone, more than 62,000 fans are expected to dine on options like po’ boys, bananas Foster bread pudding and alligator, as well as tried-and-true stadium favorites like nachos, pretzels, tacos and hot dogs.“We get to show off a little bit, flex our muscles and our culinary chops,” Martinsen said.“I applaud the NFL for allowing us to show New Orleans with the cuisine.”Fans attending Super Bowl LIX at the Superdome will see an elevated take on NOLA food culture, with items such as:The team at Sodexo Live! estimates that over 5,000 alligator sausages will be sold, more than 150,000 nacho chips will be eaten, 1,200+ oysters will be purchased, and half a ton of soft shell crab will be cooked up.Addition...