Never heard of either....but now I have!
I think each area has it's strange foods...like the Midwest's tenderloin sandwich and runza, the UP's pasty and beef on weck....and Taylor porkroll and scrapple....and Eastern Massachusette's square pizza and strange hot dog buns.
As they say....travel is broadening!! LOL! in many ways!
Linda c

Booya/booyah is fairly well known around Wisconsin & Minnesota, more in the rural areas though and northern parts of both states. My understanding is that it's more of an upper midwest dish but I've not heard it mentioned too much. Usually made for a big feed in a booya kettle, probably about 50 gallons+ at a time. Them's some good groceries I tell you that for true!

To call it "soup" is an insult. This won't be dribbling on your shirt if you jitter your spoon a bit. Done the "old way", it's a very thick, hearty stew and would be better compared to a chunky chicken soup stew than soup. Simmers all day for an all day feed so it actually thickens as the day goes on and my favorite is when it gets to the bottom where the extra meat and stuff hangs out. Probably starts as a more soup-like concoction (I've never actually seen it made from the start) but as it simmers and thickens it's "broth" is like a thick, hearty chicken gravy with the melding of flavors of the meats and veggies.

I haven't had booya for decades. Nearly forgot about it. Thanks for the reminder.

Oh and pasties are big on the iron range of MN too.

I am in MN and I have seen signs for Booya's. They do big parties where they serve the soup/stew and call them Booya's. I have never been to one or had Booya, tho.

I've never seen pasty's anywhere in this state.

Linda

Losts of pasty served in Michigani's UP, a hand-me-down from the Cornish miners that worked the copper and ore mines in the Upper Peninsula. I've even had Booyah.

Never heard of Sonker, but I love sweet potatoes so it sounds good to me! I have that issue too, I just haven't had a chance to look at it. It was 90 for about a month here, now they're saying frost by Friday, so I've go tomatoes that need canning and the eggplant is just starting to go well. Apples need pressing into cider, grapes need juicing, I need to schedule slaughter an dpackaging for beef, whichi means the freezer needs cleaning.

I might be able to read it by Thanksgiving, LOL.

Annie

Annie, it doesn't surprise me that you have had booyah, wouldn't surprise me if you had made it.

So after reading your to-do list, what are you going to do in your spare time?lol Tell me again when Elery is going to be able to retire to the farm. I'd be counting the days if I were in your shoes.

jude

Well, tomorrow I have to take stepmother's cat to the vet, and I've been trying to clean the upstairs of the old farmhouse but it's so infested with fleas that I come downstairs with my legs black up to my knees, covered with fleas. I need a haz-mat suit to work up there, sheesh.

I'm moving stepmother into an apartment, she can't live out there on the farm any longer, so I'm dealing with leases and deposits and then I'm going to have to move all her stuff. Of course, every item she touches she has to tell me a story about. (sigh) It's taking forever....

In the meantime, I need to put up some temporary fence so I can let the stock out into the hayfield that we didn't cut this year because it just wasn't that good, it needs reseeding, but it'll make nice autumn pasture before it's time to make those steers into beef!

Elery says he hates cows, LOL. I think he's still working on purpose, just so he doesn't have to farm. (grin)

Annie

Linda, head to the iron range. Pasties, porketta, poticia and more for your dining pleasure. Sarmas and sandwich loaf too.

Pasties were brought to the mining areas of Michigan and Minnesota by the Cornish workers according to generally accepted history. It was a hearty lunch for the miners and easy for them to eat. They'd wrap them in a handkerchief and carry with them. Many just like to douse it with ketchup and chow down.

A friend from the range always enjoyed the summer festivals up there because that's when they'd have sort of a farmer's market where a bunch of the local (usually older) ladies would make and sell pasties and he just loved them. What's not to like? Meat, veggies, sort of a gravy in a pastry shell. Sounds like good eats to me. Sort of a walkaround pot roast.

The European Union has now given protected status to the term "Cornish Pasty". It can only be made in Cornwall and must follow a traditional recipe, no preservatives allowed and they even mandate the shape and look to the crust. However, on "da range" they've always just been called pastys as I recall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Pasty/Porketta Picture tour

cynic, I clicked that link. "Gourmet" pasties? For shame, that's heresy! (grin) OK, I plead guilty to making "vegetarian" pasty for Amanda when she went through the vegetarian phase, but don't tell or I'll be banned from Norther Michigan!

We also have very strict rules for pasties. Chopped beef, not ground. Onion, potato and rutabaga. If it doesn't have rutabaga, it's not a pasty. No gravy in the meat filling, just salt and pepper. If you must have gravy, it's served over top, but some people skip gravy and use catsup. Many of us just eat the pasty with nothing as a sauce because you can pick it up in your hand and eat it, nothing to drip out or run down. Miners used to heat them on their shovels over a fire, makes me glad I can just have them hot out of the oven.

Annie

My grandmother used to make a sweet potato cobbler that was sublime. None of her children or grandchildren ever got the recipe from her or stood by her side while she made it to determine what she did. Would someone please post a recipe for Sweet Potato Sonker.

Shaun - you are so funny, and we enjoy you.

Walnutcreek, it looks like no one else is going to, so here the recipe is as it appears in Cook's Country. It looks really good to me, but I'd make my own crust instead of using the refrigerated/rolled up stuff.

SWEET POTATO SONKER

Serves 12

2 (15-ounce) boxes Pillsbury Just Unroll Pie Crust
1 large egg, beaten
2 cups apple cider
4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered lengthwise, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 cup (7 ounces) packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Custard Dip
2 cups whole milk
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. FOR THE SONKER: Working on lightly floured counter, unroll 2 dough rounds. Brush half of 1 round with egg and overlap with second round. Roll out dough to 17 by 13-inch rectangle and fit into 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Repeat shaping and rolling with remaining 2 dough rounds; reserve beaten egg. Trim dough into rectangle and cut into ten 1-inch strips. Transfer dough strips to parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet, cover with plastic, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Bring cider to boil in Dutch oven. Place steamer basket in Dutch oven and fill with sweet potatoes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered, until potatoes are nearly tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Remove and reserve sweet potatoes, leaving cider in pot.
3. Cook cider over high heat until reduced to � cup, about 5 minutes. Combine drained sweet potatoes, brown sugar, reduced cider, butter, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, � teaspoon cinnamon, allspice, and salt in large bowl. Spread out sweet potato mixture on rimmed baking sheet and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
4. Scrape cooled sweet potato mixture into dough-lined dish and press into even layer. Brush edges of dough with reserved egg. With long side of dish facing you, lay 4 dough strips lengthwise over sweet potato mixture. Weave remaining 6 strips into lattice pattern. Press dough strips into bottom crust and trim excess. Fold dough sides inward under lip of baking dish and crimp with fork.
5. Combine granulated sugar and remaining 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon in bowl. Brush dough with reserved egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake until deep golden brown, 55 to 60 minutes, rotating dish halfway through baking. Let sonker cool on wire rack for at least 1 1/2 hours before serving. (Sonker can be refrigerated, covered, for up to 1 day. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
6. FOR THE CUSTARD DIP: Meanwhile, bring milk, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking frequently, until slightly thickened, about 15 minutes. Off heat, add vanilla. Transfer to bowl and let cool to room temperature, about 30 minutes. Serve with sonker.

Annie