It's Memorial Day weekend! And in Madison, Wisconsin that means it's BRAT FEST! A whole weekend long of $1.50 brats and sodas served by local celebrities on Madison's Alliant Energy Center field. Residents of Madison and its environs stop by to munch bratwursts and hot dogs, listen to live bands, and spin on carnival rides. The festival has super-sized from its humble beginnings in the Metcalfe Sentry parking lot in Madison's Hilldale Mall over a decade ago.
And no wonder, the proceeds of Brat Fest go to local charities. Wisconsinites tend to be highly civic-minded, so tell Madisonians that eating bratwursts is a community service and we all line up. Folks don't just buy brats to eat at the festival. We buy them by the bag-full and carry them home for the family dinner. Every year Madisonians urge each other to buy and eat more brats than we did before. Last year's record weekend Brat Fest consumption was 191,712 bratwursts. Translate those sausages into dollars, and that's a big win for charities. Today those charitable dollars are needed more than ever. So if you can, do your part and stop by Brat Fest. If you live too far away, then join us in spirit. Buy a brat, cook a brat, enjoy it, and give a grand smile that summer is here at last. Click on "continue reading..." to read more about the different varieties of bratwursts and how to cook them.
Bratwurst sausages originated in Germany, but in Wisconsin they've diversified into a glorious abundance of forms and flavors. Sheboygan, WI is the self-proclaimed "Bratwurst capital of the U.S.A." and there you'll find garlic brats, onion brats, apple brats, Cajun and even curry brats. In true Wisconsin spirit, Sheboygan folks sometimes mix cheese into their bratwursts and eat cheddar brats, jalapeno-cheddar brats, mushroom Swiss brats, and bell pepper Mozzarella brats. In Wisconsin, you can go to a cook-out and on the same plate be served a Munich weisswurst next to an Italian bratwurst (Italian bratwursts?...Of course! They're WI favorites, just like the chicken bratwursts). - Yes, our Wisconsin sausages epitomize the culinary melting pot.
Have we lost all sense of tradition?, - you wonder. Well, in Badger land we are building new traditions, - game-day traditions. One of the most popular Wisconsin bratwursts is the State Street bratwurst. State street is the not-too-long main street of Madison, WI. At one end of State St. is the Wisconsin state capital, at the other end is the University of Wisconsin, - Badgerland! And in the middle you'll find State Street Bratwursts. Badger fans before or after a game have to stop by and buy a brat. Even re-located Badger fans eat State Street brats on game day, they just order them on-line ahead of time and grill them at home. Here's a link to instructions on how to cook State Street bratwursts.
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