Thirty-two years ago, the Cremer family introduced its turkey and dressing sandwiches at a Sacred Heart Catholic Church festival. People then started showing up at their store, Cremer's Superette at 731 Rhomberg Ave., looking to buy more.
Since then, Cremer's grocery store has become synonymous with turkey and dressing. It's now a staple of tri-state family reunions, graduations, first Communions, weddings, holidays and other get-togethers.
At one point, demand was so great that a woman was hired just to strip the turkey meat off the bones of scores of carcasses each month.
Now Cremer's buys "turkey tenders," frozen pure dark turkey meat, to cook up and mix with the other ingredients, basically bread cubes and special seasoning - a closely guarded secret.
"We didn't exactly invent turkey and dressing sandwiches, we just perfected them," Jeff Cremer likes to say.
Many people seem to agree. Cremer's can barely keep up with requests for its specialty, now sold in four sizes of roasting pans and as individual sandwiches. It has been
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"When you tell people who've never had it that you're bringing turkey and dressing sandwiches, they always say, 'What? Bread on bread?" 'But by the end, they're scooping it out of the pan with spoons," said Carol Walsh, of Bernard, Iowa, who has served the concoction at family occasions near and far..
"People think it's absolutely terrific. They can't believe the flavor. I've never heard anyone who didn't like it," said Walsh, who considers it to be one of Dubuque's culinary claims to fame.
"It seems like it's only in this part of the country," said Ralph Cremer, Jr., owner and co-founder of the grocery where four generations of Cremers have worked.
Barb Callahan said the dish has been a favorite with her family for three decades. There's at least one hot pan of it at every big family or social occasion. It has turned many doubters into believers, she said.
"They don't even want to try bread on bread, but then they think it's great," said Callahan of Dubuque. "As our children are scattering across the country, they're taking turkey and dressing sandwiches with them."
In the week leading up to Thanksgiving, Cremer's sells about 1,000 pounds of turkey and dressing.
