Highlights Archives
More than Just Cheese — Celebrate with Foods that Make Wisconsin Great
Rich sweet breads studded with nuts, raisins, and dried or candied fruits ... potato pancakes fried in oil and served with apple sauce and sour cream ... tender, flaky kringle ... juicy roasted goose with wild rice stuffing ... sweet potato pie ... and dried salt cod soaked in lye. These are just some of the foods that take center stage between Thanksgiving and New Years.
Food is at the heart of the holiday season, whether you are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or New Year's in Madison, Mauston or Mukwonago. Many of us have favorite recipes that we like to make at holiday times because they are part of our family traditions. From lefse to latkes, these traditional foods provide a gastronomic link to the past.
Holiday food traditions are a global mosaic, influenced by culture, ritual and regional pride. Germans, Scandinavians, Eastern Europeans and Russians, Italians and Irish are just some of the immigrant peoples who came to Wisconsin in the 19th century. They were joined in the 20th century by African Americans, Hispanics and Hmong. Combining homeland traditions with the regional ingredients familiar to Native Americans, Wisconsin residents took the ingredients and seasonings available to all and made ethnically distinct foods.
While traditional recipes are usually passed down through families, cooks also relied on cookbooks to expand their culinary horizons. Many immigrants brought cookbooks with them to Wisconsin. Henriette Davidis wrote many popular German cookbooks, one of which was published in English in Milwaukee in 1879. Wisconsin's most famous cookbook, The Settlement Cookbook, by Lizzie Black Kander, was first published in 1901, and contains such holiday favorites as springerle (page 377) and pfeffernuesse (page 378).
More holiday favorites can be found in the pages of the Attic Angel Association's 1894 cookbook Choice and Tested Recipes. Favorite Recipes from America's Dairyland, a celebration of all things dairy, features recipes for eggnog ice cream (pg 67), sweet potato pudding (page 72), spritz bakelse (page 49) and the ubiquitous gelatin salads (page 100). Native American cooks from around Wisconsin contributed recipes to Tribal Cooking, excerpts of which are provided here.
Learn more about Wisconsin's food traditions, holiday and otherwise, in The Flavor of Wisconsin: an Informal History of Food and Eating in the Badger State. And, if you are still stumped for dinner options, let the What's for Dinner? Board Game decide for you.
:: Posted December 19, 2005
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