Welcome to the Middle of
Everywhere!
Calico's, the Original Home of
George's Famous Cheese Buttons, is located in Mound City, South
Dakota on US Highway 83 in the heart of some of the best home-style
cooking of the nation. Travelers deliberately route their trips to
include a path through central North and South Dakota so they
can enjoy the wares of the little shops and cafes. In addition
to our famous Cheese Buttons, we serve a full menu of delicious
homemade dishes and our comfortable, rustic environment has been a
prairie sanctuary for over 100 years.
About Cheese
Buttons
Cheese Buttons, also called
Kase Knoepfla, are a German-Russian pioneer dish of tender
noodle dough stuffed with seasoned cheese and onions. It is a dish
specific to the Dakota Territory. Not only are they delicious, but
they have a special history and special place in the hearts of those
who grew up with them.
Brief History of
German-Russian Pioneer Dough Dishes
Travelers of all nationalities
find themselves asking why they had never heard of Cheese Buttons or
experienced the other German-Russians dough dishes when many of them
had been to Germany or eaten in German restaurants around the United
States. To answer this question we must trace the history of the
people who created this special cuisine-- the Germans from
Russians.
In the late 1700's, Catherine
the Great encouraged the colonization of the Russian Black Sea area
by German farmers and tradesman. Many taught these skills to the
Russian peasants and soon the Black Sea area became the breadbasket
of the world. All went well for about a century and then Czar
Nicholas the 1st came into power and canceled all German immigrant
special concessions and imposed taxes and five year military
conscription for the young men. Hearing about the freedom and land
available across the sea in the Middle West of the United States,
sparked an exodus to the New World and soon these people became know
here as the German-Russians.
Bringing with them their
skills in agriculture and trade, those who settled in the Dakota
Territory put them to use and to such production that in 1892 a
small central South Dakota town called Eureka became the world's
primary wheat market. The women, having brought with them
the knowledge of the many nationalities that they and
their families had lived near, being well versed in the art of
cooking and using the abundance of production to hand,
applied their skills to the development of special dishes now known
as traditional German-Russian Pioneer Cuisine.
Experience the
tradition. Try George's Famous Cheese Buttons
today!
Call Calico's
at (605)
955-3535 today!
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