Raw Beef and Onion Rye Bread
Some Wisconsinites may know cannibal sandwiches because they're a family unit tradition — or because of the warnings from the Centers for Disease Command and Prevention.
Cannibal sandwiches are a Midwest staple. Consisting of fresh raw beef on rye bread topped with chopped onion, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper, the dish makes some squirm and others lick their chops.
Concluding Dec, the pop dish even gained international attention with a tweet from the Wisconsin Section of Health Services that warned against eating raw meat.
But where did the tradition come from? Why is information technology so popular in Wisconsin?
Equally office of our What the Wisconsin? series that explores readers' questions large and small about our land, we looked into the past and present of the carnivorous sandwich.
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Roots in the German tradition
Germany has a similar dish of minced raw pork or beef served on breadstuff and seasoned with common salt and pepper. In that location, it'southward called mett or hackepeter.
And it'southward no hugger-mugger that Wisconsin has a big German presence. At one point, Milwaukee was even considered the "German Athens of America."
Germans immigrated here in the 1800s for agriculture and, after, dairy cattle farming. And with easy access to fresh meat, they could brand what's known today as cannibal sandwiches, said Anna Altschwager, Old World Wisconsin'southward assistant manager for guest experiences. Old Earth Wisconsin, the living history museum in Eagle, is operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
If Germans went to New York, they would not have had the access to the fresh ground beef required for the sandwich — and the tradition may have fallen away there, Altschwager said.
The density of the German population in the Midwest as well meant communities were formed and maintained, hosting sociable events like church building suppers or big family dinners, Altschwager added. This gave room for the unique dish to endure.
"They became a representation of the larger culture that had been left backside and a way to preserve information technology," Altschwager said. "You may not speak the language, you may not wear the apparel, yous may not take the politics, but that food, that memory, that tradition is a necktie to where you came from."
Milwaukee historian John Gurda agreed with Altschwager that cannibal sandwiches originated from German immigrants.
"It'south pretty natural that it would come up forth with beer and bratwurst," he said.
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Celebrating a piece of history
Today, the sandwich is seen as a staple at family unit gatherings, holidays, weddings and more than.
In 1977, Gurda served carnivorous sandwiches at his traditional s side Milwaukee nuptials.
"It really wasn't a choice. Information technology was an expectation," he said. "You simply wouldn't have considered having a wedding reception without cannibal sandwiches."
Altschwager said when people determine to make carnivorous sandwiches, they're recreating somebody's history. That's why then many Wisconsinites hold onto it.
"We want to maintain the tradition," she said, "and we desire to give our kids the holidays that we recollect."
And, yep, carnivorous sandwiches are known for being a little "out there." Merely virtually dishes that are an expression of culture are funky or elaborate — outliers, Altschwager said.
"It's not something that you take every Wed night for dinner," she said.
Frequently a story or memory comes with information technology, such equally remembering the commencement time you tried one or that joke grandfather used to make, Altschwager said.
"That's the magic for me with these foods. It's less about the food and more about the space we create when we serve those foods," she said.
While Gurda said he thinks the popularity of the sandwich has waned equally consumers go more food-conscious, Scott Podd said information technology's growing in popularity.
Podd is part possessor of Ray'south Butcher Shoppe, at 4640 Due west. Loomis Road in Greenfield. The shop has been in the Milwaukee expanse since 1977.
Fifty-fifty though they've always been busy, Podd said they do more orders now than they ever have, even during a normal weekday. He said the store gets at least one customer a twenty-four hours who wants ground round for cannibal sandwiches.
Podd said the holidays — specifically, during tardily December — is the shop's busiest time of year for ground round.
"We sell thousands of pounds around the holidays," he said.
But Podd said he doesn't know why information technology's so popular.
"Peradventure because it goes good with a cocktail or beer," he said.
Or maybe it's but a part of tradition.
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Source: https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/green-sheet/2021/08/31/why-raw-meat-cannibal-sandwich-endures-what-the-wisconsin/7906831002/
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