How to spend lots of money without even trying…
I live in a state that was settled by the Germans. At one point Milwaukee had four German newspapers. The Kino, a German language movie theatre, was showing German films well into the 70’s and 80’s (and may still be doing so).
One of the top 100 restaurants in the country is Maders. If you haven’t been there, you must go. They have been serving German food for over a century. I took my grandmother there for her 70th birthday. It wasn’t too surprising to find out that both my grandparents and Gregs parents celebrated their very special occasions there.
All of that being said, I live in Madison. And the things that make Madison truly special are probably the same things that strip the ethnic traditions away. Even if you are “German” in Madison… it doesn’t matter. You are Madisonion.
There is no sense of old world ethnicity. I guess that’s ok, but coming from the family background that I do, I miss it.
So, there is ONE place in the entire area to go and become sucked up into the German tradition. It is the Bavarian Sausage Kitchen. And it is a haven for all traditional German refugees, like me.
I make the trek a few times a year. Once there, I go nuts. I buy all of the German sauce mixes, the specialty meats, the Rosti and other German potato products, the specialty cuts of meat like rouladen beef, veal and pork schnitzels, the various sausages like bratwurst, weisswurst, thuringer, and others, and anything else that I can lay my hands on. And their smoked ham is out of this world.
Today, my arms piled high, I ran into an 80 year old fellow shopper. She asked me about the sauce mixes I was buying. I told her they were a great way to make a quick schnitzel, and she was hooked. I warned her that the package directions were only in German. She haughtily informed me that she spoke German. I laughed and said, “Of course you do… what was I thinking?”.
There were tourists there too. They were ordering Christmas gifts to have shipped back home. I found that amusing.
I lament the fact that after my generation, our family’s German tradition is gone. My nieces and nephews have no history in what it means to celebrate based on the Old World traditions. They have probably never eaten a schnitzel, and probably never will. They don’t understand the appeal to immersing yourself into a specialty shop like The Bavarian Sausage Kitchen.
And it is a true shame. But I could (and one day probably will) write an entire book on this subject.
Ah well, picture of the pup under the link, for anyone who cares!
Janet
A friend, Counting Sheep, pointed me in your direction. What a lovely shiba pup you have! As you can tell by my address, I also have a shiba, he’s a red sesame color, tho. Your blog is gorgeous, too!
Irene
Hi Janet,
I love the red and the red sesame Shibas! They are gorgeous. I had a red one in mind when I ran across Toshi, and then I decided that the black and tan were cool as well.
Shibas are unique! Enjoy your dog, and thanks for the note!