Cooking Tools: Wisconsin Traditions by Pat Killen

August 13, 2007

Wisconsin Traditions by Pat Killen

As many of you know, Rich and I hail from Wisconsin, and we harbor many fond memories of the Cheese-head state. But, I wonder, what do you think of when you hear that beautiful word "Wisconsin?" Is the first thought Green Bay Packers, frigid winters, or fishing and lakes? Or, how about beer, cheese and brats?

Many thousands of German immigrants settled in Wisconsin during the early to mid 1880s, and their ethnic heritage is evidenced in the cuisine and customs of this part of the country.

Along with the locally prevalent German cuisine, their beer also became a part of the culture. Many breweries, for example, had their homes in Milwaukee: Miller, Pabst and Blatz, just to name a few. In our college days in Milwaukee, taking a tour of a brewery with generous servings of free beer at the end was a very popular group student pastime, as the drinking age for beer in Wisconsin at that time was eighteen. Those tours are still available, and they are still fun, at the several breweries that are still in operation in various cities in Wisconsin, including, among others, Milwaukee, La Crosse, and Stevens Point. After you tour a brewery, you should try one of the fine German restaurants in Milwaukee. Our favorite is Mader's, but they all serve traditional German fare, such as dumplings, saurbraten, knockwurst, as well as sweet and sour cabbage. Those and other German foods remain high on the list for us.

The Germen people are noted for their sausages, but it was Wisconsin to which they introduced the highly seasoned bratwurst. Today, bratwurst (or brats, as we will now refer to them) can be found in two forms; white and red. Both of them are made from pork (though sometimes they are made from veal), but the white brat is mostly found at ball parks. The red brat is the traditional brat, and they are mostly made and purchased in Wisconsin from butchers who use old family recipes for their creations. There are, however, large-scale manufacturers who make darn good red brats; Usingers and Johnsonville to name but two of them. I don't know the name of the seasoning or herb that gives the brat its unique taste, but you must experience that taste!

One beautiful summer day way back in he fifties, some friends and I drove my mother's yellow 1955 Dodge convertible (with the top down) to Sheboygan for the annual Bratwurst Festival. The festival (By the way, Wisconsin has more than its fair share of festivals.) lasted the entire weekend, and it included a parade, music, games, and, of course, brats. Charcoal grills lined the downtown streets, and the aroma of the cooking brats divinely filled the air. The purveyors served the brats properly: a quality bun, sauerkraut and mustard.

When we first moved to Indianapolis in 1963, we couldn't buy brats locally, so we had to import them from Wisconsin. Today, most of the grocery stores carry a variety of brats, in both red and white.

For a real crowd pleaser, try following this approach to cooking red brats; it's the way we do it for our annual neighborhood party.

Wisconsin Bratwursts

Use good quality brats (Don't be afraid to buy the most expensive in the case.) Grill them on medium low heat until the skin has become brown; they should be done. When they are a golden brown, transfer the brats to a large heavy pot and cover with beer and thinly sliced onions. Simmer the concoction on low heat to keep warm and infuse the brats with the beer and onion flavors 30 minutes is enough time, but you mat continue longer. Make certain that you do not bring the batch to a boil for that will tend to split the brats. Serve whenever the guests are hungry.

As DAW would say: Bon Appetit,

P.S. The best way to get uniformly sized thin onion slices is to use a mandolin. I don't know whether you can get one at Amazon.com, but you can try at: http://www.amazon.com?%5Fencoding=UTF8&tag=cooktool-20

Posted at 03:31 PM | Permalink

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