Recipe for Booya, Please!

Hi,

I am looking for the recipe of a stew called Booya. It is cooked in the Midwest...some churches and other groups would cook it en masse for big occasions. Does anyone have a good recipe for this??

Thanks!

There's no agreement on the origin of "booya".

The dish is said to have originally consisted of mostly turtle meat and cabbage, although such things as chicken and oxtails and rutabagas and potatoes have always had a prominent role. The term "booya", sometimes spelled "booyah". The term seems to have first appeared in print in the 1880s.

Booya is popular in two places: around the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota, and in Northeast Wisconsin.

In Wisconsin, it's said to have originated with the Belgians who originally settled the area. Some say that because these settlers were from a French-speaking part of Belgium, the word "booya" is a corruption of either the French word "bouillir" or the French-Canadian word "bouillon", both of which mean "broth".

However, some authorities say that the Belgians who settled Northeast Wisconsin didn't speak French, but spoke their own language called "Walloon". Even today, they say, Northeastern Wisconsin is sometimes referred to as "Walloon country." "Bouyu" "or bouyon", possibly meaning "to boil", is the Walloon word from which it is claimed "booya" is derived.

Over in Minnesota, the term is often attributed to French Canadians, trappers in particular, and to be derived from "bouillion". However, once again, not all agree to this. Some say it was originally a Polish dish, some say it came from Finland, and some say Czechoslovakia. (source: http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m1223F05.htm)

These sites have articles about booya:
- What's Cooking America
- Dayton's Bluff
- Phaed

Booyah

1 lb. butter
25 lbs. chicken, cut in pieces and browned
5 lbs. beef, cubed and browned
5 lbs. onions browned with meat
5 lbs. celery, diced
5 lbs. carrots, diced
3 pecks potatoes, peeled and diced
5 lbs. shredded cabbage
5 lbs. fresh tomatoes, diced
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons pepper
1 cup chopped parsley

The following may be added if desired:

5 No. 2 cans whole kernel corn or equivalent of fresh cooked corn,
2 lbs. dried split peas, soaked overnight and cooked until tender,
2 lbs. dried navy beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender.

Brown meat, add seasoning and enough hot water to cook until tender.
Debone cooked chicken and cut into cubes. Place all the meat in a
large pot. Add vegetables in the order given according to the length
of time for cooking each, with enough additional boiling water for
cooking the mixture. Watch the mixture carefully to prevent sticking
and burning. Add more water as needed.

Makes 25 gallons
-------------------------
Backyard Booya

5 lbs. meaty soup bones
2 lbs. oxtails
5 lbs. stewing chicken
4 lbs. meaty neck bones (beef)
2 lbs. carrots, sliced
6 large onions, cut up
Large stalk celery, cut up
6 large potatoes, diced
1 large cabbage, cut up
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can peas, drained
1 can green lima beans
1 can cut green beans
1 can cut yellow beans
3 cans tomatoes

Cook the soup bones just until meat is tender. Using a large
canning kettle add beef broth and fill with water, so it is 3/4
full. Add the rest of the uncooked meat and chicken.
Cook until meat falls off bones. Bone all meat and remove chicken
skin. (Discard skin).
Cut meat in pieces. Place broth on stove to simmer. Add onions,
celery, carrots, cabbage and potatoes. Cook for 2 hours. Add all
canned vegetables. Bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly.
Add all the meat. Cook slowly for another 2 hours. In a square
piece of cheesecloth put about 6 cloves of garlic, a good handful
of marjoram and bay leaves. Tie and put in with the vegetables.
Salt and pepper to taste. Paprika and other spices may be added,
if desired.

This recipe comes from the "Favorite Recipes of Sokol Minnesota,
Czech-American"
published by Sokol Minnesota, 383 Michingan St., St. Paul, MN 55102

Are you planning on making this soon? You'll have to let me know how it works out for you.

Chooch

I did receive one, but I would love to have yours to compare it to. Thank you for this!

Peggy

Say, did you ever find your recipe for Booya? I live in Mn and have been making it for years. I'm actually planning on making it twice this fall... Let me know if you would like a copy of the recipe. I would add it here but, I don't have a copy at work.

Chooch