Pittsburghers pride themselves on the art of tailgating. So even though the Steelers won’t be suiting up for Sunday’s Super Bowl LII in Minneapolis, fans will be busy in the hours leading up to the 6:30 p.m. kickoff at U.S. Bank Stadium.
Along with countless pans of haluski, hot sausage, wings, nachos and slow-cooker chili, coffee tables and kitchen counters will groan under the weight of various dips, chips and other traditional football fare. Cheering against the cheating New England Patriots makes you really, really hungry.
With the big game playing out in Minnesota, this might be the year to add to your tailgate repertoire a Minnesotan dish that’s also the name of the party where the stew is cooked and dished up. It’s called booya, and it’s been a fall tradition in northern Wisconsin and the Minneapolis-St. Paul area for decades.
Booya is the Minnesota equivalent of the Pittsburgh Lenten fish fry. That is to say, a meal that doubles as a fundraiser for churches, VFWs, American Legions and fire halls while drawing the community together.
Technically, booya is supposed to be cooked outside in a giant cauldron over a fire pit for hours and hours, says Stephanie March, senior food and dining editor for Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine. Sold by the cup or plastic pail, “It’s one of those weird community soup things,” she says. Most people booya when the air starts to get crisp in September and October, though occasionally you’ll find a church, VFW or firehouse that’s willing to brave the snow and frigid cold of a Minnesota winter.
It’s nearly impossible to find the dish on a menu, although Jake’s City Grille in Maplewood, Minn., offers a shrimp and sausage chowder that is colloquially referred to as booya by the staff and company. It’s just too time-consuming to prepare, and “most people locally don’t associate it with restaurants,” general manager Sean O'Brien says.
No one knows for sure how the dish originated in Minnesota. The general consensus is that immigrants from the French-speaking Walloon region of Belgium brought it with them in the 1850s — the word “booya” is thought to come from the French word bouillir, meaning to boil. Others believe it to be of Hungarian origin, or maybe Polish. It’s anyone’s guess.
What is known is that running a booya (or booyah, as it’s spelled in Wisconsin) has been a way for organizations to raise money for more than a generation. The North St. Paul Fire Department has been booya-making since the 1930s and 1982 ushered in the World Championship Booya Cookoff in St. Paul. Judged by local politicians, the annual contest draws thousands.
Like your nonna’s marinara sauce or a fireman’s chili, no two recipes for the seasonal concoction are the same, Ms. March says. But there are some must-haves. Booya always boasts several different kinds of meat that’s cooked until it falls off the bone — oxtail is a favorite, along with some fatty beef such as short ribs, chicken and pork — and it also typically includes onions, root vegetables and tomatoes to give it the reddish color.
“The cooks are kind of know to be drunk, because they’re cooking all night in a lovingly way, of course,” Ms. March says, with a laugh,
Other versions are more creative. While food writer Jessica Fleming of the St. Paul Pioneer Press grew up eating her father’s oxtail and chicken booya, her uncle made a mean turtle booya. What doesn’t vary is the order the ingredients that go into the cast-iron pot. It’s always meat and bones first, then the vegetables and secret spices.
The dish is cooked so long at a rolling boil, that by the time it’s done the chicken is “really stringy,” she says. “And you generally have to watch out for the bones,” although the conscientious cook will fish them out before adding the vegetables.
“And nobody ever says no” to a booya, Ms. Fleming adds. “It you’re invited, you go.”
During the booya season, Minneapolis residents can rent 40- to -80 gallon kettles at hardware stores around the metro area to set up in parks, parking lots and backyards. St. Paul’s Highland Park also has a booya shed with five kettles for rent. If you make it at home, just allot yourself a few hours.
And if you are heading to Minneapolis for the Super Bowl, the Little Canada Fire Department is having a rare winter booya at its firehouse at 325 Little Canada Road, Little Canada, starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday (it is about a 15-minute drive from the stadium).
Fire chief Don Smiley says the station expects to start making about 230 gallons of booya on Friday afternoon. They will sell 16-ounce bowls for $5. “But some people come in with gallon buckets,” he says.
He concedes the traditional firehouse dish of chili would be a lot easier to make, “but this is a Minnesota thing,” he says.
Gretchen McKay: gmckay@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1419 or on Twitter @gtmckay.
Minnesota Booya
PG tested
Yes, it’s possible to booya at home, but you’ll want to allot yourself some time.
2½ pounds bone-in, English-style short ribs, trimmed, meat and bones separated
2½ pounds bone-in chicken thighs, trimmed
Salt and pepper, divided
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 yellow onions, chopped finely
2 ribs celery, minced
8 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 bay leaves
4 cups shredded green cabbage
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
8 ounces rutabaga, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch pieces
3 large carrots, peeled and sliced ¼-inch thick
1 cup frozen peas
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Pat beef and chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown beef on all sides, about 10 minutes; transfer to plate. Cook chicken until browned all over, about 10 minutes; transfer to plate. When chicken is cool enough to handle, remove and discard skin.
Pour off all but 1½ teaspoons fat from pot. Add onions and celery and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in broth and bay leaves, scraping up any browned bits. Add beef, bones and chicken, and bring to boil.
Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, until chicken registers 175 degrees, about 30 minutes. Transfer chicken to bowl. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into bite-size pieces, discarding bones. Cover chicken and refrigerate. Continue to simmer stew until beef is tender, about 1¼ hours longer. Transfer beef to a plate. When cool enough to handle, shred into bite-size pieces, discarding fat. Remove beef bones and bay leaves. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer; discard solids. Allow liquid to settle, about 5 minutes, then skim off fat and return liquid to pot.
Add shredded beef, cabbage, tomatoes, rutabaga, 1¼ teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper to liquid, and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rutabaga is translucent around edges, about 15 minutes. Stir in potatoes and carrots and cook until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Add chicken and peas, and simmer until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat, stir in lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 10 to 12.
— Brenda Score, www.afarmgirlsdabbles.com
First Published: January 31, 2018, 5:00 a.m.
