Booyah (stew)
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| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United States |
| Region or state | Upper Midwest |
| Details | |
| Type | Stew |
| Main ingredient(s) | Meat (commonly beef, chicken, or pork), vegetables (carrots, peas, onion, celery, potatoes), seasonings |
Booyah (also spelled booya, bouja, boulyaw, or bouyou) is a thick soup of probable Belgian origin made throughout the Upper Midwestern United States.[1] Booyah often requires up to two days and multiple cooks to prepare; it is cooked in specially designed "booyah kettles" and usually meant to serve hundreds or even thousands of people.[citation needed] The name also refers to the event surrounding the meal.
Cooking
In cooking booyah, one makes a base or broth derived from meat bones, to which vegetables are added. Beef, chicken, and pork are popular varieties of meat for booyah (with all three often in the same kettle), with vegetables such as carrots, peas, onion, and potatoes also in the mix. A wide variety of seasonings are used, sometimes lowered into the kettle in a cheesecloth bag.[2]
Typical large-scale "booyah kettles" can hold more than 50 US gallons (190 L) of the stew, and are made from steel to withstand direct heat.[citation needed] Some community groups and churches have their own kettles, generally custom-made for charity events, while other groups rely on municipal kettles.[citation needed]
Etymology
The term "booyah" may be a variant of "bouillon". It is thought to have derived from the French language words for "to boil" (bouillir), and subsequently broth (bouillon). The spelling with an H has been attributed to the phonetic spelling by Wallonian immigrants from Belgium.[3] The Dictionary of American Regional English attributes the term to French Canadian immigrants; others attribute it to a derivation from the Provençal seafood dish bouillabaisse.[2]
An article in the Green Bay Press-Gazette on October 29, 1976, speculating on the origin of the spelling and related fundraiser event, reads:
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Lester (Rentmeester) relates recollections of his schoolteacher father, Andrew, probably the "pioneer" of the word "booyah" and friend of the creator of the soup. "At the old Finger Road School where he taught, funds were always in short supply," he recalls. "So my father hit on the idea of a community picnic to raise money for the school. He went around to parents and neighbors, gathering up beef and chickens for the traditional Belgian soup that would be the main dish at the benefit affair. And he also went down to the office of the old Green Bay Gazette, looking for publicity." The writer handling the news of the benefit picnic, so the story goes, asked what would be served. "Bouillon—we will have bouillon," came the reply, with the word pronounced properly in French. "The young reporter wrote it down as he heard it," Rentmeester relates. "It came out 'booyah' in the paper. It was booyah the first time it was served at Holy Martyrs of Gorcum Church—an affair my father also originated--and that's what people have called it ever since."
Modern day
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The traditional stew is still made in northern and northeastern Wisconsin, greater Minnesota and Michigan's Upper Peninsula at church picnics, county fairs, VFW gatherings, and in smaller amounts at private gatherings, sometimes combined with booyah cooking contests.
The Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, Minnesota, has five kettles with a total yield of 350 US gallons (1,300 L) of booyah. The kettles have been around for several decades.
See also
References
External links
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- Articles with unsourced statements from February 2016
- Pages with broken file links
- Stews
- Cuisine of the Midwestern United States
- Cuisine of Wisconsin
- Cuisine of Minnesota
- French-Canadian culture in the United States
- Culture of Saint Paul, Minnesota
- Culture of Green Bay, Wisconsin
