Kermis

Kermesse, or kermis, or kirmess, is a Dutch language term derived from 'kerk' (church) and 'mis' (mass) that became incorporated in French and English. Its origins are originally associated with the mass said on the anniversary of the founding of a church (or the parish) and in honor of the Patron Saint.  Such religious celebrations were regularly held in the Low Countries, in Central Europe and also in Northern France, and were accompanied by feasting, dancing, drinking and sports. 

The Dutch-American Village of Little Chute, Wisconsin, has celebrated Kermis annually since 1981 with a street festival. The Wallonian settlements in Door and Kewaunee Counties have celebrated Kermis with traditional Belgian dishes and events for as long as anyone can remember.  

Traditionally, Kermis around here stretched over several calendar weeks as each small settlement - Namur, Brussels, Rosiere, Little Sturgeon, Forestville, Lincoln, Duvall and Casco celebrated the harvest and the life-giving bounty of food.  

I'm not of Dutch or Belgian descent - but we're celebrating our own Kermis here with With the last of our garden harvest and attending the annual Kermis festival at the local Belgian American Heritage Center in Namur.  Nothing better on a late summer afternoon than friends, neighbors, a couple of Trappist-influenced craft beers and some Belgian Church Lady food. 

Beginning in the mid-1800s and over three decades more than 5000 Belgian immigrants settled in several communities in the area.  To this day it constitutes the largest concentration of Walloon Belgians anywhere in the world outside of Belgium.  It's a national treasure.  But I digress.

Getting back to the subject of culinary traditions I happened-upon this short video published only a few years ago.  I'm sharing it as it is about the tradition of hog butchering in both English and Walloon.  Walloon is a national treasure around these parts as it's actually an endangered 'Romance Language' of the Langues d'oïl family - spoken primarily in the Wallonia region of Belgium.   

One of the elements of the past that is alive and well is a local favorite called Belgian Trippe.

Trippe (pronounced like: trip) is a sausage similar to a bratwurst but with a not-so-secret ingredient.  The thrifty Belgian settlers extended their pork sausage with the inclusion of cabbage.  Further seasoned with onion, salt, pepper, thyme, nutmeg and ginger it is made locally by Marchant's.

It's pretty good stuff for breakfast, lunch or dinner and you won't find it anywhere outside of northeast Wisconsin.

Here's a newspaper clipping from 1963 with a recipe for 60+ pounds of the sausage for serving at a Kermis - or Belgian harvest festival....

click on image for a closer look

July Night Sky

2023 Full Buck Moon

The names associated with our full moons are frequently derived from the names given by the indigenous peoples that inhabited North America.  The tribes used a calendar to track the seasons by means of the names given to the return of a full moon.  The Ojibwe people of the Great Lakes region call this moon Abitaa-niibini Giizis, the Halfway Summer Moon, or Mskomini Giizis, the Raspberry Moon.  

In the northern hemisphere the full moon that greets us today is called the Buck Moon in recognition of the rapidly-growing, velvet-covered, antlers of the whitetail deer. As a consequence of summer storms it is sometimes called the Thunder Moon.   It always shines in or near the stars of Sagittarius or Capricornus. It will appear at its fullest tonight and tomorrow night.  Look for it to rise in the east after sunset; highest at midnight and setting in the west at dawn.

With the arrival of European settlers two additional monikers come to mind:  the Meade Moon which coincides the harvest of honey used to ferment this drink and the Hay Moon as the first cuttings of cattle fodder occur.  

Fingers-crossed for clear night skies and no skeeters.

July Night Skies

2023 Full Buck Moon

The names associated with our full moons are frequently derived from the names given by the indigenous peoples that inhabited North America.  The tribes used a calendar to track the seasons by means of the names given to the return of a full moon.    

In the northern hemisphere the full moon that greets us today is called the Buck Moon in recognition of the rapidly-growing, velvet-covered, antlers of the whitetail deer.  It will appear at its fullest tonight and tomorrow night.  Look for it to rise in the east after sunset; highest at midnight and setting in the west at dawn.

With the arrival of European settlers two additional monikers come to mind:  the Meade Moon which coincides the harvest of honey used to ferment this drink and the Hay Moon as the first cuttings of cattle fodder occur.  

Fingers-crossed for clear night skies and no skeeters.

Behind The Curtain

Prague is home to a Jewish enclave situated between the Old Town Square and the Vltava River.

What is called the Jewish Quarter traces its roots to the establishment of the Jewish Ghetto in the 13th century when Jews were forcibly settled in this particular area.  Over the centuries Jews were prohibited from living anywhere else in Prague and it became more crowded as additional people forced to flee Germany, Austria, Moravia and Spain joined them there.

Compounding their difficulties the inhabitants of the ghetto were subjected to the whims of whoever ruled at the moment.  The most recent occurring from 1893-1913 with the destruction of buildings and reordering of the streets. Fortunately, the most significant historical buildings were spared destruction and remain a testament to the history of Prague's Jewish community.  Today these buildings represent the best-preserved  collection of Jewish architecture in Europe.

The Jewish Quarter is home to six synagogues and the old Jewish Cemetery.  

The Spanish Synagogue and the Old-New Synagogue are the most famous ones..The Spanish one is named for its Moorish interior design elements.  Constructed in 1868 it is the newest.  The Old-New Synagogue is the oldest active synagogue in Europe.  Built in 1270 it is the first Gothic architecture in Prague.

Maisel Synagogue 1592

Pinkas Synagogue 1535 

Klausen Synagogue 1694

Spanish Synagogue 1868

The Old Jewish Cemetery is the most remarkable of its kind in Europe and was in use from the first half of the 15th century until the last half of the 18th century.  Designated a National Cultural Heritage in 1985 there are approximately 12,000 gravestones.  The number of burials is estimated to be 100,000.

Ironically, all of this survived the Nazi occupation as Hitler laid plans to preserve The Quarter as a Museum to an Extinct Race. Plundered Jewish artifacts from Nazi-occupied territories were relocated to Prague.  Because much of this property remained after the war - the original owners having perished in Nazi concentration camps - the Jewish museum became the second largest in the world.

Birthplace of the Bohemian Jewish author Franz Kafka