IF FAT IS THE TROPHY,

WE WIN!

Blessed are you who come to Wisconsin.  You will leave with handles.  Of all that we do, this is our area of expertise.  I heard once that there are more obese people in Wisconsin per populous than any other state in the country.  Now, I know this should not be a bragging point, but it is! Our food is memorable and comforting.  Ask yourself how we get through the long winters without depression issues?  Now you are catching on!  We eat, we drink, and we play.

Much of our cuisine is "old world".  It goes beyond meat and potatoes. We are sauce masters.  We roast, we simmer, we saut'e, and broil, and baste and taste and test and we do it all until we acquire that perfect blend of flavor. Here is a random sampling of the cuisine that makes us famous. 

FAIR, FEST & FRIDAY FOOD:

There are many ethnic food fairs and fests in Wisconsin. On any given weekend you can find several cities hosting some event revolving completely around food.  Summerfest, Oktoberfest, Sheboygan's Bratfest and The Wisconsin State Fair seem to be a few of the forerunners.

The Wisconsin State Fair in Milwaukee is home to all the traditional Wisconsin Fair foods, such as hot baked potatoes, maple syrup cotton candy, blue ribbon cheese and butter, fruit-topped ice cream sundaes, omelets, delicious honey and hand-dipped chocolates. Newer favorites await your taste buds such as pickled vegetables and gyros. Your taste buds will be singing the praise of the Badger State's finest products. 

 Obvious to some, here is the heart of what you can find at any Wisconsin Fair or Fest. 

BEER BRATS:  If you are still unclear on this issue, you may be forced back a year in your education here at Cheesehead University.  Bratwurst is a compound German word. The word brat means "fry." The word wurst means "sausage."  Bratwurst is pronounced with a short A (rhymes with "got").

 GRILLED CORN ON THE COBB: Our State Grain, sweet corn, is grown abundantly.  We cook it a slew of ways, but the most common is grilling it and peeling back the husk as each person comes to get it.  The purists use the husk as a handle and then dunk the entire cob in one of many vats of melted Wisconsin butter close by.  Then you sprinkle the salt to your liking and go to town.  I salivate as I write this. Our corn is commonly eaten raw as well.  It is that sweet!

CREAM PUFFS: Put it this way, this last year the Wisconsin State Fair had 860,078 visitors.  The Dairy Bakery, the premier Cream Puff vendor sold 348,082 Cream Puffs.  Yeah, they are just terrible.

FISH FRY:  EVERY PUB TAVERN AND CATHOLIC HOME SERVES IT ON FRIDAY!  BEER BATTERED OR PAN FRIED, THE FRIDAY NIGHT FISH FRY IS SYNONOMOUS WITH WISCONSIN.

CHEESE CURDS: This is the stuff dreams are made of fresh and young natural cheddar cheese.  Before it is pressed and formed into blocks, and in its natural state, they are broken into bags and sold.  The key to a good curd is getting it fresh.  After a few weeks they dry up or turn more salty.  So, how do you know they are fresh?  They squeak when you bite into them.  Literally....they squeak!  The ones you find in the grocery store are usually already too old.  To obtain the real deal, you should go to our "Cheese" page.  Purists will tell you this is the only way to get good curd.

The fairs and many fests throughout Wisconsin also deep fry or batter fry these curds.  The best variety of this is done with beer batter recipes and many of the good ones are coveted.  I still need a good one for the recipe page. 

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MORE FOOD LIST WILL BE POSTED SOON!