The Omnivore's Delight

There are a lot of good reasons to visit Madison, Wisconsin. Me, I go to eat.

Photo by Bill Lubing

Spring radishes from Snug Haven Farm.

Madison’s farmers’ market is the largest producer-only venue in the country with more than 300 annual regional participants. Started in 1972, it’s a bustling bridge connecting the vibrant city to the verdant countryside, a microclimate garden of rare heirloom vegetables and earthy goods. Madison’s thriving community of artisan purveyors serves up interesting cheeses, meats, sausages, poultry, eggs, baked goods, condiments, jams, jellies, nuts, vodkas, and beers.

Even better, one weekend during harvest season the market expands and morphs into Madison’s annual Food for Thought Festival (September 19–20), a jam-packed array of presentations, cooking demonstrations, contests, children’s activities, music, puppets, mimes, and stilt-walking vegetables. The weekend draws tens of thousands from around the Midwest.

This year, Michael Ableman will give the Friday keynote address. His book, Fields of Plenty: A Farmer’s Journey in Search of Real Food and the People Who Grow It, chronicles travels with his son from their farm in British Columbia through the United States, interviewing and photographing innovative farmers who are making a difference.

Photo courtesy of Reap Food Group

Wisconsin farmers grow to extraordinary heights.

Saturday the fun begins. It all happens around majestic Capitol Square and its green lawn. The vendors are a mix of aging hippies (gray pony tails on balding heads), retired investment bankers, and tweedy professors who’ve turned to the land. Walk to the beat of street musicians’ drums and take in the scents of peppers roasting, bratwurst grilling, and doughnuts frying.

At my first stop, Helen Kallenbach, the Country Baker, makes buttermilk mashed potato doughnuts from scratch, hand-rolling and cutting the dough and frying it in cast-iron skillets filled with lard. No wonder she can hardly keep up with demand.

Next, it’s on to Blue Skies Berry Farm’s bouquet of gorgeous edible flowers and gemlike raspberries (in gold, pale yellow, pink, and deep red hues). Then it’s empanadas from Stella’s Bakery (nosh on the spicy cheese bread) and pick up tiny apples from G. C. Schellhorn, an English professor who retired to raise more than forty varieties of fruit trees.

Photo by Bill Lubing

John Dougherty’s artisan Asiago and provolone.

Among the cheese-makers, check out Fantome Farm’s fresh chèvre, Capri Cheese’s goat feta, Farmer John’s artisan Asiago and provolone, along with Bleu Mont Dairy’s bandaged cheddar that’s been aged on cedar planks in an underground cave.

Look for more than forty-five varieties of tomatoes from Quentin and Mary Carpenter. The country’s best spuds, which have been stored in ideal cold and damp conditions, can be found at Butter Mountain. My favorite stop is Hickory Nut Heaven, where Robert and Audrey Biersach sell dark, fragrant nuts resembling pecans. They comb the woods near their home for these hickories, picking, sorting, and cracking them by hand. They are too fragile to ship—their store is one of the few remaining places you can find them in the country.

Photo by Bill Lubing

Brittany Bethel of JenEhr Family Farm.

Festival pavilions address an array of food phenomena. Talk with representatives of cookbook publishers, culinary historical societies, cookware manufacturers, ingredient suppliers, nonprofit environmental and hunger-relief agencies, sustainable garden implement distributors, and organic food companies. Sample new food products, buy seeds, find out how to start a restaurant (it’s easy!), or join a CSA (community-supported agriculture farm). A bevy of alternative health care providers (chiropractors, massage therapists, yoga instructors, vegan lifestyle consultants, psychics) offers services on the spot.

Photo by Skot Weidemann/courtesy of GMCVB Frank Lloyd Wright’s Monona Terrace. Nonedible Action Once you can’t eat anymore, here are some of my other favorite Madison pastimes: • Nature lovers will appreciate Olbrich Botanical Gardens and the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum. • Kids will groove on the Madison Children’s Museum and Henry Vilas Zoo. • Art lovers shouldn’t miss the spectacular rooftop sculpture garden at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. • Culture fans must take in a performance of the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Opera, or Repertory Theatre. • Active types will want to canoe, kayak, or sail Lakes Monona and Mendota, framing the city’s lush shores. • Sports fans must take in a Badgers game on the historic UW campus when the gridiron schedules coalesce—the Gophers hit Camp Randall Stadium November 15. • Shoppers should look for funky bargains near Capitol Square.