Wisconsin Foodie Gone Wild
by AMY MARBERRY
As a foodie living in Green Bay, it should never be questioned whether I, a Wisconsinite, am proud of our most notable masterpiece: Cheese. Our beer is known to brew up a lot of emotion as well. But to say that brews and cheese and are the only culinary creations we can muster up would be doing a disservice to other unique food traditions throughout Northeast Wisconsin��and the rest of our fine state.
It is that very argument that brought me here��behind the wheel of my husband��s GMC Yukon XL��with five of my family members from back East in tow. That��s right��New Yorkers��and snobby ones at that. We set aside a few days to venture out of Green Bay and hit the road in the Yukon to experience some food��Wisconsin style!
The first stop on our adventure would be like none other experienced by native New Yorkers: Door County Cherries & Fish Boils. About an hour��s drive from Green Bay you��ll find Door County��s miles of lovely shoreline. But it��s not just a feast for the eyes, it��s also the force behind two local traditions: Fish boils and cherries. The fishboil features the freshest whitefish caught by local fishermen on Lake Michigan. The Master Boiler throws chunks of fish, potatoes, onions and salt into a huge, boiling cauldron until the fish oils rise to the surface��then he turns up the juice on the flames for the infamous ��boilover.�� The oil spills over the side of the pot and leaving the fish steaming hot and perfectly cooked. The White Gull dining room then serves it up with lemon, melted butter, garden fresh coleslaw, and homemade breads.
Truly a culinary masterpiece unique to Wisconsin.
Even though they tried to hide it, my New Yorker relatives were impressed. But the best was yet to come. Lake Michigan boasts ideal conditions for cherry-growing. Both sweet and tart cherries are readily available at local farmer��s markets and "pick-your-own" orchards in late summer. That said, unbelievable cherry pie would, of course be the featured dessert. I could almost see them salivating.
After waddling back to the GMC Yukon XL (thank God it��s roomy) for an overnight stay at a nearby hotel, we would hit the road the next day for some Green County beer and cheese.
It��s a three-hour drive, but where else can you sample beers like Spotted Cow, Uff-da Bock, or Fat Squirrel other than at the New Glarus Brewery? It was there we spent the day touring the brewery and where my guests would get to sample some of the greatest brews around. I was driving the Yukon so, alas, I couldn��t partake��but the cheese awaited my arrival.
After a few hours spent at the brewery, we drove a couple miles to Monroe for a stop at Baumgartner��s Cheese Store & Tavern. The locals love the Limburger cheese sandwich, served with mustard and onion on rye bread (with much-needed mint on the side). But I thought it was safer to suggest a cheese appetizer and a few more beers so we��d have room for dinner at the amazing Landhaus Chalet. This place serves up authentic fondue and Swiss cuisine from Swiss-trained Executive Chef Mike Neval.
By this time on our journey, it was safe to say that I was winning over my skeptical family members.
As we continued to pack on the pounds during our Foodie Fest, we would have yet another day of stuffing our faces to look forward to. It was only about 10 p.m., so we decided to head out on the highway in the GMC Yukon for our two-hour trip to Milwaukee.
After checking into the hotel for the night for a little R&R, I thought about the treat I had in store for the next day: Brats! As we made are way along Milwaukee��s historic Third Ward district, Usinger��s Famous Sausage was calling our name. These guys have been making authentic German sausage for over a century. Today, you can get 70 varieties of Old World sausage, including bratwurst and German-style wursts.
We decided to take a factory tour and, of course, purchase a few links to take home with us. But we couldn��t wait until we got back to Green Bay to try out this stuff. So we took a walk next door to Mader��s German Restaurant for a Bavarian Platter, featuring a selection of Usinger��s grilled bratwurst and simmered knockwurst in sauerkraut served with a slice of kassler rippchen and a potato dumpling. After yet another amazing meal, I surprised my delighted guests with some tickets to the Milwaukee Brewers game, just up the interstate.
The conversion was almost complete!
It was time, yet again, to switch on the Yukon XL��s OnStar navigation and XM radio for our hour-long drive to Kohler��for the Kohler Food & Wine Experience. This festival lasts all weekend and brings in thousands of foodies from around Wisconsin. With celebrity chefs, wine tastings, seminars, culinary demonstrations, specialty shopping, and more, we decided to stay in town the entire weekend. Finally convinced that there MAY JUST BE more to Wisconsin than cheese, my guests admitted they were having a fabulous time.
Unfortunately, it was already time to head back toward Northeast Wisconsin and Green Bay. The extra day spent at the festival put a damper on my plans to take them to Central Wisconsin��s Cranberry Highway in Wisconsin Rapids, where they would have experienced some of the most indulgent cranberry treats known to man. But that would have to be another time, another adventure in the GMC Yukon.
