Wisconsin Culture (Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay: stores, bars, friendly)

[notmuch69]

Pop, Pail and Crick.

[timeofseasons]

I don't see Wisconsin that much different from Iowa, and think those two states has a lot in common as Wisconsin and Minnesota.

[UW Badgers]

Originally Posted by timeofseasons

I don't see Wisconsin that much different from Iowa, and think those two states has a lot in common as Wisconsin and Minnesota.

Living in Iowa as I am right now and being a born Wisconsinite, I would NEVER say that Iowa and Wisconsin are similar. I'll stop there with this subject...

Afghans, always had one on our couch in our front room.. Still say front room to this day.

Fish Fry's...Those are a staple in Wisconsin. Growing up we always went to one at a church near our house with friends of the family. We had the best time. We would be there for what seemed like hours.
The only one we had here in Iowa was at a VFW club. No offense, but it was awful. Always try to hit one up on when we go back home to visit.

We used to call the freeway the breezeway as well and still do.

Us too. It's always been the breezeway. That's too funny.

The kids I watch here think I'm nuts when I say bubbler. I also think of brats and polish sausage being staple's in Wisconsin. To this day my mom makes polish sausage for Christmas brunch. Wouldn't miss it for anything! One can't forget all the festivals too. Summer is festival season, at least in the Milwaukee area. The church festivals were always my favorite. I really miss the summers in Wisconsin. So many fun things to do.

Can't forget the Dells either. That is definitely Wisconsin culture. Been around forever...

Great topic Josh! Thanks for starting it. It brought back great memories for me.

[JoshB]

Originally Posted by UW Badgers

Great topic Josh! Thanks for starting it. It brought back great memories for me.

I'm glad you enjoyed it. I learned some new things from this thread.

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by NicePolishBoy

Sorry, cheese curds are not unique to Wisconsin. They are popular in other dairy states.

Some of the house mentions are frequently used elsewhere as well, front room, afghan, vanity, especially Great Lakes states. Bubbler is different because it was a brand name from Wisconsin and has been treated like Kleenex is nationally.

What other dairy states are there besides Wisconsin and California? I've never seen cheese curds sold any place besides Wisconsin.

Originally Posted by quijote

From what I can tell, butter burgers seem to be a Wisconsin thing.

I've never had a "Packer Roll" at a sushi bar in Wisconsin, but perhaps that's another state original?

Wisconsin, of course, is bratwurst central in the United States (and Sheboygan is the epicenter). Isn't there some kind of unique cake that comes from Sheboygan?

However, many of the things often considered unique to Wisconsin are in fact found in some other places....

Buffalo, NY is a major place for fish fries all year 'round, though they don't have perch and walleye like we do in Wisconsin. Wisconsin and Western New York are the only places I know of that have made the year-round fish fry a local tradition, though it's possible Erie, PA also does the fish fry thing.

Buffalo also has frozen custard, though Wisconsin seems to have more of a "flavors of the day" tradition. Wisconsin (via Culvers) has done more to popularize custard across the midwest, though.

I've read that the thin, cracker-crust pizza of Wisconsin is really a variant of a thin, cracker-crust style that came from Chicago, but even if that's the case, Wisconsin has done more to make that style of pizza its own.

What in the world are you talking about? Last time I checked Chicago doesn't have a thin-crust style pizza associated with it in any way, shape, or form. Chicago is famous for that monstrosity known as deep dish pizza.

[quijote]

Originally Posted by jjacobeclark

What other dairy states are there besides Wisconsin and California? I've never seen cheese curds sold any place besides Wisconsin.



What in the world are you talking about? Last time I checked Chicago doesn't have a thin-crust style pizza associated with it in any way, shape, or form. Chicago is famous for that monstrosity known as deep dish pizza.

Yes, Chicago is famous for its deep-dish pizza, but that doesn't mean Chicago only has deep-dish pizza. I'm not a big fan of wikipedia, but this article describes Chicago thin-crust a bit:

Chicago-style pizza - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As far as I'm aware, Milwaukee/Wisconsin thin-crust pizza derives in part from Chicago thin-crust, though the Milwaukee/Wisconsin version has more of a cracker crust all the way through.

The thin-crust pizza in the midwest, including "St. Louis style pizza" and the thin-crust pizza found in Indiana and Ohio, derives at least in part from Chicago thin-crust.

Chicago thin-crust, in turn, is thought to derive in part from Italian immigrant recipes, but also in part from New York thin-crust (via Italian immigrants moving from NYC to Chicago).

New Haven pizza is also thought to be an offshoot of NYC thin-crust, though it's a bit doughier than Milwaukee thin-crust.

The genealogy of food in the U.S. is pretty fascinating, and the family tree of pizza styles is nearly as complicated as the family tree of Barbecue and Chili.

[think first]

I'm old enough to have gone to bars when you could at the age of 18. I don't know if this is unique to WI, but I'll never forget the raw hamburger and onion sandwiches served on Sunday mornings in some bars we went to.

They'd have plates of raw hamburg and onions setting out and you could just help yourself. Never ate one.

Whether or not this particular type sandwich had a name, I don't know. Whether or not they're still served free in some bars, I don't know.

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by think first

I'm old enough to have gone to bars when you could at the age of 18. I don't know if this is unique to WI, but I'll never forget the raw hamburger and onion sandwiches served on Sunday mornings in some bars we went to.

They'd have plates of raw hamburg and onions setting out and you could just help yourself. Never ate one.

Whether or not this particular type sandwich had a name, I don't know. Whether or not they're still served free in some bars, I don't know.

You're describing the ever-so-popular "cannibal sandwich."

[think first]

Clearly, that's an appropriate name. Thanks.

[jjacobeclark]

Originally Posted by think first

Clearly, that's an appropriate name. Thanks.

I think the cannibal sandwich is a Scandinavian thing. I first heard of them in the U.P.