Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine
I'm heading down to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania for my great-aunt's 100th birthday! I haven't been down in about ten years, when my grammy died, and I was thinking it will be nice to get re-acquainted with some of the regional specialties. (But not scrapple, LOL)
First and foremost, I want to pick up a nice big sack of John Cope's toasted dried sweet corn so that I can make stewed corn or just eat it out of the bag.
Since it's not new year's day, I guess I won't be getting any pork and sauerkraut, but definitely lots of pickles and chow-chow are in order. I remember we used to get fasnachts - I think they're like doughnuts, but I'm not sure.
What else can I try (or re-try)?
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22 Comments:
Apple Dumplings, Corn Chowder, Sausage, Whoopie Pies, Pretzels, and Shoo-fly pie. I am from not too far from there and the baked goods are always amazing at Amish Markets. The corn chowder is a personal favorite, but in general you are in for a lot of delicious comfort foods.
Linz0 at 4:35PM on 07/07/08
whoopie pies are a must, chicken pot pie (not in a crust, more like chicken and noodles) and stop at any chicken bbq stand on the side of the road, usually rt 30 is full of them, not really bbq, more just pit chicken, but sooo good. The central market is also a must!!
thedish28 at 5:27PM on 07/07/08
oh yeah, also dont forget chicken croquetts, and lebanon bologna!
thedish28 at 5:33PM on 07/07/08
Any flour or baking grain that's been locally milled. That's incredible stuff.
therealchiffonade at 6:38PM on 07/07/08
REAL whoopie pies, and not those things people in Maine try to pass off as whoopie pies.
[kidding, Maine people...kind of...]
also, another shout out for lebanon bologna! try to explain THAT one in...well, not Pennsylvania.
half moon pies and anything with chicken and dough (pot pie, chicken and waffles, chicken and noodles, whatever) are the things I really miss the most. my dad sends me whoopie pie care packages frequently, so I'm covered there. They freeze well, so go on and stock yourself up. :)
jcmeloni at 8:05PM on 07/07/08
Fasnachts! I have fond memories of them. They are indeed a raised doughnut, traditionally made on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Fasnacht = Fat night, i.e. Fat Tuesday), to use up all the flour and sugar and oil in the house before you had to give up all those goodies for Lent. At least, that's the way the story was told to me. German bakeries sell them all over Philadelphia, where I grew up, and I bet in PA Dutch country too. My family refer to Fat Tuesday as "doughnut day."
Vegetarianka at 9:58PM on 07/07/08
Oh, C'Mon, whats wrong with Scrapple? I bet you eat hot dogs, right? If you've never tried it, PA Dutch country is the perfect place to do so!
jonfoxx at 10:02PM on 07/07/08
Not necessarily PA Dutch, but don't forget to have a Tastycake or some great Wilbur chocolate. Ring bologna and birch beer, too.
lattelatte at 10:21PM on 07/07/08
I double jonfoxx's scrapple vote, preferably with apple butter.
Maybe it's not dutch, but you better pick up some Utz potato chips.
ostman at 12:18AM on 07/08/08
Funnel cake - isn't this Pennsylvania Dutch?? My grad school roommate was from Lancaster and she taught me to eat funnel cake with lots of powdered sugar on top...
I didn't like it when I tried it - but Sasparilla is also enjoyed over there, no?
i'll ask my friend if she has any other recos...
MadelynRodriguez at 1:26AM on 07/08/08
Definitely some whoopie pies. Any baked good, really. Look for some Amish market and fully take advantage of those breads and pies they have to offer!!
luswim06 at 8:31AM on 07/08/08
Hey, thanks everyone! Great information. My dad told me that Saturday afternoon's birthday celebration will be a potluck lunch, and the PA relatives are really good cooks in the regional style, so I am excited to re-acquaint myself with these dishes.
I'm from New England, and I always thought the whoopie pie was "ours." We used to get them at hot lunch in school on Fridays. I was never really a fan, maybe because I don't like marshmallow.
@jonfoxx - I might give scrapple another try. I have a childhood trauma with scrapple, though. The first time I tried it in PA as a child, one of my father's cousins said, "Oh, great, the kids are going to try scrapple. Did you know I worked in a butcher shop one summer during school vacation? Yeah, my job was to pick the pig's teeth out of the scrapple before we sold it."
Now I'm a lot less squeamish, much more adventurous, and not so prissy about eating the "other" parts of the animal.
LadyMarmalade at 9:00AM on 07/08/08
a-ha! see, the Pennsylvania whoopie pie has no marshmallow. It's just white sugar icing between cakes. That's why it's awesome. :)
have fun at the potluck!
jcmeloni at 9:04AM on 07/08/08
Anything baked.
bobbob at 9:42AM on 07/08/08
Grab a bag of Martin's Kettle Cook'd Potato Chips! Send me a couple bags of 'em!
1stmakearoux at 9:42AM on 07/08/08
Shoo-fly pie! It's a must.
Stufsocker at 10:26AM on 07/08/08
Scrapple is actually called "Ponhaus" and should be nothing but pork trimmings (similar to the way ground beef is produced) and cornmeal.
May brother worked for a scrapple company and saw it production and always said "What's to fear from something that's been cooked a few times already before YOU fry it in a pan?" The only question is if you like it cut thick or thin? Some folks like it with ketchup or hot sauce I prefer just fresh ground black pepper.
I love all that stuff and recently just this summer an Amish market stand has opened up near work here once a week and I get to stock up every week now! Lately I've been buying their grass fed milk yogurt...and it aint lowfat that's for sure but it's so friggin good...that and whatever baked goods and produce catches my eye at any given time.
Have fun and don't be scared to try any of it. Scrapple rules my kids used to beg me for some when I made it just for my self and I would torture them and say "Nah this is for me you have your bacon!"
They're die hard now as young adults.
Stiv61 at 12:04PM on 07/08/08
Sausage, Bologna, Whoopie Pies, Anything baked, Kettle Cooked Potato Chips
@LadyMarm: Don't do it! When it comes to scrapple, Just Say No. Uhhh, that stuff is the worst.
Have fun!!
Butrflygirly at 1:56PM on 07/08/08
I'm from PA and my stepdad always ate Scrapple with King syrup. Anyone ever heard of that?
And I make homemade potpie, but my husband said he never had it without the crust. To me, if there is a crust involved, it's a meatpie.
steflink at 3:17PM on 07/08/08
I fell in love with German crusty rolls way back when, and finally was able to find a similar kind of roll in Lancaster County... god only knows which market it was in, but it was worth it! Since then I've been tempted over and over again to make do with crusty rolls from supermarkets, but they're never exactly what I remember from Germany.
So I'd say go ahead and grab a few rolls from an Amish market, because they're almost definitely not the parbaked kind they sell at Kroger. :)
S. Cornell at 8:41PM on 07/09/08
Scrapple is delicious! I would love to have a freezer full of some bacon, egg and cheese bread from Shady Maple Market. Makes fantastic toast. Utz potato chips are good if you prefer crispy, but not too salty.
I was surprised the first time I saw PA Dutch chicken pot pie - huge noodles and no crust. I like crust. The firehouses have special oyster dinners - they're cooked in milk and I can't remember if they're called soup or stew.
Fasnacht! aka Fat or Shrove Tuesday. The day before Ash Wednesday. Pig out on donuts and use up the oils, butter and sugar for lent.
PerkyMac at 9:22PM on 07/09/08
My relatives down there would serve salads with this Pennsylvania Dutch dressing that was sweet and sour. I remember that it had hex sign artwork on the bottle. It was really good, especially on a spinach salad with bacon and mushrooms.
LadyMarmalade at 8:57AM on 07/10/08