Lawmakers Propose Booyah As Wisconsin’s State Soup

State lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are coming together to designate an official state soup for Wisconsin.

Booyah is a staple of church picnics in northeastern Wisconsin, but is an oddity to many from outside the region. It’s a chicken-based soup brought by Belgian immigrants to the Green Bay area in the 1800s.

State Rep. John Macco, R-Green Bay, introduced the measure to make it the state’s soup.

Some are in the oxtail camp, but others not so much. No specific recipe will be designated as the official booyah.

Macco said it won’t cost anything. He said Democratic legislators from the area are on board.

“There’s so much tension both in the state of Wisconsin as well at the federal level,” he said. “There’s some very serious very real issues. But every once in a while we get to do a fun human interest story.”

Comments on social media suggest there is a faction that believes beer cheese soup should be given the “official” status.