Booyah

(Abridged) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Booyah or Booya is a food that is prepared like a stew, but on a very large scale. It takes many cooks to prepare the food, and it is usually meant to serve hundreds or even thousands of people. The name booyah is also used to describe the event surrounding the meal, and is probably a degenerated form of the name bouillabaisse, or as a mis-interpretation of the French word bouillon by a newspaper reporter (see history).

In the cooking of booyah, one makes a base or broth derived from culinary bones to which other food can be added. Beef, chicken, and pork are popular meats for booya, and vegetables such as carrots, rutabagas, celery, and potatoes are also put into the mix. A wide variety of seasonings are often used.

The preparation of booya often takes up to two days, generally cooked in specially designed booyah kettles that can hold more than 50 gallons of the stew. Generally made for charity events, some community groups and churches have their own kettles, while other groups rely on municipal kettles.

The name Booyah likely originated in Green Bay, WI, by the booyah “pioneer” Andrew Rentmeester around 1905.

My Big Fat Green Bay Wedding Booyah

For those of you that don’t know, Troy comes from a very big, very Green Bay family. And for those of you that have never been to Green Bay….well, you will just have to come visit sometime because the experience is too difficult to relay with words.

In celebration of our recent Vegas wedding, Troy’s family hosted a celebratory Wedding Booyah for us over the Memorial Day weekend.

The Booyah is the acme of Green Bay get-togethers. The apex of all Green Bay social events. As the above Wikipedia definition describes, the word Booyah describes both the social event itself and the great vat of glorified chicken soup that is the nuclear substance of said party.

Important things to know about Booyah:

1. It is an all day event (two days if you count the preparatory time the day before).

2. The broth for the Booyah can be started the night before to save time. If you are especially well organized (like Troy’s mother), all of the veggies etc. can be pre-chopped and the Booyah kettle can be set up the night before as well. This makes the day of the Booyah run smoothly, thus fun can be had by all, including the host. Note: the Booyah kettle itself is a pretty amazing piece of machinery with much family history that may require it’s own blog entry at a later date.

3. Uncle Don will show up to your house at about 6:30 am on the day of the Booyah to start the Booyah (If you do not have an Uncle Don, substitute with the most appropriate uncle available). This early start is very important, as Booyah takes between 6 and 8 hours to create.

4. It is important to have well stocked coolers and ample bar supplies (especially those necessary for mixing multiple types of Manhattans). A party isn’t a party in Green Bay without a wee bit of booze. However, a Booyah is a family affair, so it is also important to have an amply stocked pop, water, and juice box cooler.

5. Generally, the immediate family will begin arriving between 11am and 1pm, with all of the cousins and extended family filtering in between 1pm and 3pm. A typical Baeten/Selsmeyer (the maternal lineage of the Baeten boys) Booyah will include between 30 and 50 people falling within three to four generations. There will be the occasional friend or two of a cousin, but it is mostly a “full family” event, with everyone related to everyone else through somebody’s sister or married to so and so, or the second cousin of the blah blah blah….. (To the recently initiated family member the task of remembering all of the names and relationships can be daunting, but I am assured that even those that have been married into the family for some time still get tangled up from time to time. Definitely reassuring.)

6. Between 2pm and 3pm the Booyah will be ready for consumption. It will be eaten all day and likely the next day and the next. Typically at our family Booyah’s 25-30 gallons of Booyah are made. Much is eaten, but even more is sent home with various family members for freezing to be enjoyed on another day.

7. Depending on the day, the party can last until 9 or 10pm, or it can burn all the way until the wee hours. Our wedding Booyah was over at a very modest 8:30pm, one for the record books.

Epilogue:

Our Big Fat Green Bay Wedding Booyah went off without a hitch. We are very blessed to have so much wonderful family to celebrate with us on this Memorial Day. We were especially excited to have my parents here all the way from Grand Rapids to help represent the Rosas clan and their recent fusion with the Baeten side of the family. (It was their first Green Bay and first Booyah experience….I think they survived with very little residual psychological damage). Also, Troy and Todd’s Great Aunt Anne and her husband Warren were present. It had been maybe 20 years since the boys had seen their Great Aunt. She is the only direct line of the paternal Baeten family line that is left. So that was an additional element that made this particular Booyah exceptional and special.

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!