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Why I smell like North Dakota’s Wishek sausage

Filed Under: Life in North Dakota Tagged With: , , 13 Comments

There is a secret my husband didn’t tell me about when we relocated to his hometown five years ago. I would smell like sausage when I lived here. Every day.

Before we got married, thankfully, I knew part of the sausage secret. But the parts of the secret you can only know if you actually live in the south central North Dakota hometown of Wishek. The first time I met my future-in-laws, my future mother-in-law said to me, “Do you like sausage?” I was thinking sausage breakfast links. 
I wasn’t raised in an ethnic German culture like my husband. Despite my dad having old German heritage in him, we were immersed in my mom’s side of the family’s Norwegian traditions on the eastern North Dakota prairie. Norwegians don’t eat a lot of sausage. What my mother-in-law was asking really could have been interpreted as “Are you okay with our German food?” On my first bite of Wishek sausage served to me on my first visit to my future husband’s childhood home, I knew that I did indeed love Wishek sausage. Not only did my husband’s family love sausage I learned, they lived across the street from the local grocery store famous for making Wishek sausage. 
Then I learned the next part of the sausage secret. 
When we moved deep into the prairie, people started asking me from far off places, “When you come to visit next time, can you bring me some Wishek sausage?” Yes. Yes I can. It seemed that if people from California to New York knew North Dakota, they knew Wishek sausage. 
Before living in Wishek, I remember thinking it was odd my mother-in-law traveled to Arizona to my sister-in-law’s home with a cooler of Wishek sausage. But then I learned this is normal. If you are from Wishek, it is only polite to bring Wishek sausage with you when you travel. It’s famous. It’s a big deal. You make people happy when you bring a few rings of fry sausage from Wishek with you. 
I began to travel with a cooler of Wishek sausage. Then I learned the next part of the secret of why people were so keen on asking me about Wishek sausage. 

No matter where I travel, I smell like Wishek sausage. I drop off my work clothes that need dry cleaning on Tuesdays at the local grocery store. They are delivered back to the grocery store on Fridays. Sausage is being smoked sometimes throughout the week. But it’s always freshly smoked on Saturdays. And if my clothes aren’t immediately picked up on Fridays, they start to smell like the famous sausage. My clothes often soak in the smells of Wishek sausage as they hang in the front of the grocery store waiting for me to retrieve them.

There have been times I have been out of state and I have madly texted my husband, “Please go pick up my dry cleaning!” I didn’t want to smell like sausage. Then I quit fighting my anxiety of smelling like sausage. After all, it’s what we are famous for in our corner of the prairie.

No matter what dry cleaned outfit I wear now, I smell like Wishek sausage. I use heavy duty Febreze to lessen the smell a bit each day. But three times this week in meetings in our state Capitol I have had people mention Wishek sausage to me. And then I admit to them, they are subconsciously thinking about Wishek sausage because I smell like it. I’m okay with it. It’s my community. It’s my prairie. We’re not perfect. But smelling like sausage? I embrace it. I embrace the unique Germans from Russia culture that I am immersed in our corner of the North Dakota prairie. I wear my sausage scent with pride. 
Our friends own the local grocery store famous for Wishek sausage. They have a new web site that you can visit here to learn how to order Wishek sausage. Then I won’t have to drive around with a cooler of it to deliver. You’ll never go back to any other type of sausage. Also here is a story from the Germans from Russia Heritage collection that was originally printed in 1995 that talks about the Wishek sausage secrets. 

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  1. Tracie Bettenhausen says

    I love this! My favorite part of Saturdays was heading to the grocery store after twirling practice, getting sausage and freshly baked rolls, and going home to eat warm (WARM AND FRESH!) sausage sandwiches.

    Now, when I come home, that scent takes me right back to elementary school, twirling and happy lunches.

    Reply

  2. Roger Egeberg says

    My wife has a co-worker whose grandmother lives in Wishek and she has brought us sausage from there a few times. It’s among the best I’ve ever eaten, it’s making me hungry now just thinking about it!

    Reply

  5. Michelle says

    I remember lots of good Norwegian food when I lived in Minot, but not too much German food. Though, I know it is prevalent. I may have to order some of the Wishek sausage!

    Reply

  6. Darren says

    Thanks for the plug, Katie. Your a good friend and a great ambassador for our community. I glad to know you are OK with smelling like Wishek sausage. 😉

    Reply

  7. LuAnn says

    I really enjoyed reading this! With all the advances in communications and social media, I’m not aware of a way to “smell” anything virtually! Wouldn’t that be cool….! Maybe someone is working on that right now!

    Reply

  8. Diane Cayton-Hakey says

    There are definitely worse things one could smell like. Yes, embrace your sausage aroma. I grew up in Iowa and after moving to Arizona people from back home would bring us those little chocolate stars that go on the top of cookies. Could not buy them in Arizona, so I totally understand the cooler you take when you travel. ;)))

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  10. Mike Fischer says

    My folks are from North Dakota. I have very fond memories of eating the Wishek ring bologna still warm with fresh homemade bread. We all live in California now and sure do miss the sausage from Wishek.

    Reply

  11. Romona says

    When I order sausage I wait till it is really cold around 0 deg or a little above .watch forecast.then order never had a problem. I order mine from Eureka.

    Reply

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