Our Family Booyah

Booyah. Anytime we make it we usually have at least a couple people that do not even know what it is much less how good it is. My parents make it at least once a year and my mom did make a good point that I need to be there for the whole process. I have been part of making it for years but never the entire beginning to end. I am going to go into what booyah is and how we make it but I just had to touch on this dish a bit from a tradition stand point. I think every family has a dish that they hold dear to their hearts and this is for sure my family's. You can make this on the stove in a smaller batch but the fire gives the soup a special flavor. I am sure the 90 plus year old cast iron kettle that we cook it in adds flavor as well. I look forward to making this every year and I specifically asked for some for my birthday this year. It was really the only thing I wanted. Now I have a ton of it and if we do not eat it all this week we will freeze some. Which is always nice for the dead of winter.

Yum!

What is Booyah?
I have done some research and based off of my DNA results I am 59% Belgium. The part of Belgium that boarders France.  This dish comes from that region.

Per wiki:
Booyah (also spelled booya, bouja, boulyaw, or bouyou) is a thick stew of probable Belgian origin made throughout the Upper Midwestern United States.^[1] Booyah can require up to two days and multiple cooks to prepare; it is cooked in specially designed "booyah kettles" and usually meant to serve hundreds or even thousands of people.The name can also refer to a social event surrounding the meal.

We have a 35 gallon kettle which is enough to feed at least 100 plus people realistically.




How is it made?
Making Booyah is a process. It takes a lot of time and dedication as the wiki page states. At least a two day process. The most time consuming part is preparing all the veggies for the soup. The following veggies must be cleaned, peeled or chopped before hand: Carrots, celery, corn, peas and potatoes. Some people add cabbage if you do that you are dead to me. We do not add it to ours EVER. The reasoning is that it flavors the whole thing and over powers the other flavors. I am not going to give all the secrets away but here is the general process. You cook your chicken and beef in the kettle with water till it is falling off of the bones. You then have to clean the meat off of the bones and throw it back in the kettle. At some point you need to add bouillon (chicken and beef) cubes as well as a small amount of tomato juice. You need to season with salt, pepper etc through this entire process tasting along the way. We all taste it numerous times to see what we all think. The biggest secret non-secret ingredient is fire. You need to constantly be watching the fire and adding wood. A little here or a lot there. My dad does this by sight he watches the booyah to check if it is boiling or bubbling. There is a specific time table for this whole process but I would have to kill you if I told you the full order of how we add things.  FAMILY SECRETS y'all.

The 90 plus year old kettle.

Smoke adding flavor.

The bowl attached the handle has been around in my family for at least 90 years.

What does it taste like?
I mean it tastes like booyah. The closest thing I can compare it to is if chicken soup and beef soup had a baby without noodles. It is a rich and hardy soup that easily fills you up. Perfect with a dark beer.

Gotta have those oyster crackers.

Cooling before eating.

My dad watching the booyah closely.

In closing I am proud to continue this tradition on in my family and look forward to next year when I get to help make it from start to finish.

Until next time~
XoXo Emily