Old Retired Guy Blog
May 27, 2008
For more photos, please see |
Sausage Heaven!
Since I've been known to enjoy a brat (or two) and a beer (or two), I suggested to Kathy that we head down to the festival. Even with all of the hype, the festival lived up to my expectations. We arrived shortly after the festival opened on Saturday and, with the help of our olfactory senses, quickly found our way to the brat tent. The lines were still short so we didn't have to wait long to get our sausage fix. Local politicians, radio and TV personalities, and other big-wigs worked the cash registers. (The Mayor of Middleton was our cashier.) We took our food to one of the music venues, relaxed on the lawn, ate our luscious lunch, and enjoyed a great set of blues and rock by a local group called Blue Beyond. The music eventually attracted Maynard G. Mallard, the mascot of the local baseball team, the Madison Mallards. After living for 25 years in a state where the college teams have wimpy names like the Beavers and the Ducks, it was a bit strange to see Maynard the Mallard in the land of Bucky Badger. But, hey, he danced pretty well for a guy with webbed feet!
After Blue Beyond finished their set I went back to get another brat and was surprised to find very long lines. There must have been at least 20 separate lines for brats and each one probably had 25-30 people in them. Not being the most patient man in the world, and having the knowledge that we were planning to cook brats later on our own grill, I did not wait in line. The newspaper this morning reported that 191,712 brats had been sold during the festival. I'm happy to say that was a new record. I can't wait until next year! |
When we moved to Portland, Oregon in 1982, we were disappointed to discover
that it was very difficult to find bratwurst in the grocery stores. In
desperation we tried other things like "British Style Bangers," which were sad
looking white sausages that, unfortunately, tasted about like they looked.
The British are not exactly known for their cuisine so we shouldn't have been
surprised, but bangers were not even close to bratwurst in flavor or texture.
One year we attended an international festival and bought some brats from a
vendor decked out with German flags. These were much better than the Brit
Bangers, but still paled in comparison to our favorite Wisconsin sausages.
After many years, just when we thought that all hope was lost, Johnsonville
started to distribute their products in the Pacific Northwest. Stores
didn't always carry them or carried so few that they sold out, but at least
there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that light was coming from a
charcoal grill.
Now that we're back in Wisconsin we don't have to worry about finding
bratwurst. But, even I didn't realize how popular those tasty sausages
have become in the past 25 years. Over the Memorial Day Weekend I got
quite an education. You see, they have this event in Madison called the
