Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the

Pennsylvania Dutch The Pennsylvania Dutch ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ), also known as Pennsylvania Germans, are a cultural group formed by German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. They emigrated primarily from German-spe ...

. According to one writer, "If you had to make a short list of regions in the United States where regional food is actually consumed on a daily basis, the land of the Pennsylvania Dutch—in and around

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania ...

—would be at or near the top of that list," mainly because the area is a cultural enclave of Pennsylvania Dutch culture. Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine reflects influences of the Pennsylvania Dutch's German heritage,

agrarian society An agrarian society, or agricultural society, is any community whose economy is based on producing and maintaining crops and farmland. Another way to define an agrarian society is by seeing how much of a nation's total production is in agriculture ...

, and rejection of rapid change.David Rosengarten, ''It's All American Food: The Best Recipes For More Than 400 New American Classics'' (2003). Hachette Digital. It is common to find Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine throughout the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Delaware Valley The Delaware Valley is a metropolitan region on the East Coast of the United States that comprises and surrounds Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation and 68th largest city in the world as of 2020. The toponym Delaware Val ...

region.

Techniques

In the 18th century baking was still done in wood-fired ovens that produced inconsistent results and could easily become too hot. The Pennsylvania Dutch baked

pastries Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggest ...

on cabbage leaves to provide some protection from hot spots that could develop in the oven.

Soups

Soup Soup is a primarily liquid food, generally served warm or hot (but may be cool or cold), that is made by combining ingredients of meat or vegetables with stock, milk, or water. Hot soups are additionally characterized by boiling soli ...

s, often featuring egg noodles, are characteristic of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Pennsylvanian Dutch homes have traditionally had many broths on hand (vegetable, fish,

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for their eggs, their meat or their feathers. These birds are most typically members of the superorder Galloanserae (fowl), especially the order Galliformes (which includes chickens, qu ...

, and other meats) from the saving of any extra liquids available: "The Pennsylvania Dutch developed soup making to such a high art that complete cookbooks could be written about their soups alone; there was an appropriate soup for every day of the year, including a variety of hot and cold fruit soups."William Woys Weaver, ''Sauerkraut Yankees: Pennsylvania Dutch Foods & Foodways'' (2nd ed.) (2002), p. 93. Soups were traditionally divided into different categories, including ''Sippli'' or "little soup" (a light broth), ''Koppsupper'' or "cup soups", ''Suppe'' (thick, chowder soups, often served as a meal with bread), and ''G'schmorte'' (a soup with no broth, often like a ''Brieh'' (Brei) or

gravy Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of sa ...

).William Woys Weaver, ''Sauerkraut Yankees: Pennsylvania Dutch Foods & Foodways'' (2nd ed.) (2002), p. 94. Pennsylvania Dutch soups are often thickened with a

starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human die ...

, such as mashed potatoes,

flour Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cul ...

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...

, noodles,

fried bread Fried bread is a slice of bread that has been frying, fried. Nutrition A small slice (35g) of fried bread has 174 calories. Around the world British Isles A Full breakfast, full English breakfast will often include bread fried in oil, ...

dumpling Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, ...

s, and ''Riwwels'' or ''

rivels Rivels are an ingredient in some types of soup, often a chicken-based soup (archetypically chicken corn soup) or potato soup. Rivels are common in Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. They are composed primarily of egg and wheat flour Wheat flour i ...

'' (small dumplings described as "large crumbs" made from "rubbing

egg yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example be ...

and flour between the fingers"), from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

verb for "to rub."

Pennsylvania Dutch specialties

Beverages

* Birch beer *

Root beer Root beer is a sweet North American soft drink traditionally made using the root bark of the sassafras tree '' Sassafras albidum'' or the vine of '' Smilax ornata'' (known as sarsaparilla, also used to make a soft drink, sarsaparilla) as the ...

Dishes

* Amish potato salad * Apple butter *

Apple dumpling An apple dumpling is a baked or boiled pastry-wrapped apple. To prepare apple dumplings, apples are peeled, cored and sometimes quartered and placed on a portion of dough. The hole from the core may be filled with cinnamon, butter and sugar and ...

—cored and peeled apple, covered in a pie-crust, dusted with sugar or cinnamon, and baked. Served in a bowl with milk. Sometimes eaten as dessert, but generally a meal in and of itself. * Beef or venison jerky * Bova Shankel—a pierogi-type dish of potato dumplings and sauce. * Brown butter noodles—egg noodles combined with butter that was melted and browned in a pan. * Hot bacon dressing—cooked, drained, crumbled bacon in a thickened sweet dressing, served hot over fresh salad greens; often used with dandelion greens to offset their tart taste. * Bacon gravy * Chicken and waffles * Chicken corn soup—made with egg noodles and sometimes

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma (botany), stigma and stigma (botany)#style, styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly ...

, which has been cultivated in Pennsylvania Dutch country since the early 19th century; egg noodles, corn, hard boiled eggs, and chicken. Sometimes an addition is

, small

dumplings Dumpling is a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of dough (made from a variety of starch sources), oftentimes wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, flour, buckwheat or potatoes, and may be filled with meat, fish ...

. *

Chow-chow The Chow Chow is a spitz-type of dog breed originally from northern China. The Chow Chow is a sturdily built dog, square in profile, with a broad skull and small, triangular, erect ears with rounded tips. The breed is known for a very dense ...

Cole slaw Coleslaw (from the Dutch term ''koolsla'' meaning 'cabbage salad'), also known as cole slaw, or simply as slaw, is a side dish consisting primarily of finely shredded raw cabbage with a salad dressing or condiment, commonly either vinaigrette o ...

* Cup cheese *

Gingerbread Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as cr ...

, ginger snaps,

ginger Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice and a folk medicine. It is a herbaceous perennial which grows annual pseudostems (false stems made of the rolled bases of ...

cake, and pot roast spiced with ginger and other aromatic spices. * Hamloaf—a

meatloaf Meatloaf is a dish of ground meat that has been combined with other ingredients and formed into the shape of a loaf, then baked or smoked. The final shape is either hand-formed on a baking tray, or pan-formed by cooking it in a loaf pan. ...

-like dish made of ground ham, often baked with brown sugar on top, lacking the spices and

bread crumbs Bread crumbs or breadcrumbs (regional variants including breading and crispies) consist of crumbled bread of various dryness, sometimes with seasonings added, used for breading or crumbing foods, topping casseroles, stuffing poultry, thicken ...

found in meatloaf. * Hog maw—pig's stomach, called ''Seimaaga'' in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. * Lebanon bologna * Peanut butter schmear * Pepper cabbage—a sweet and sour dish *

Pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...

and

sauerkraut Sauerkraut (; , "sour cabbage") is finely cut raw cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria. It has a long shelf life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid formed when the bacteria ...

* Potato filling *

Potato rolls Potato bread is a form of bread in which potato flour or potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family ...

Pot pie Pot pie is the North American term for a type of meat pie with a top pie crust that is commonly used throughout the continent. consisting of flaky pastry. Pot pies may be made with a variety of fillings including poultry, beef, seafood, or plant- ...

—not the baked pie with a pastry top, but a meat stew with large noodles (pot pie squares); often features

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

, salt, vegetables (such as

celery Celery (''Apium graveolens'') is a marshland plant in the family Apiaceae that has been cultivated as a vegetable since antiquity. Celery has a long fibrous stalk tapering into leaves. Depending on location and cultivar, either its stalks, lea ...

onion An onion (''Allium cepa'' L., from Latin ''cepa'' meaning "onion"), also known as the bulb onion or common onion, is a vegetable that is the most widely cultivated species of the genus ''Allium''. The shallot is a botanical variety of the onion ...

, and

carrots The carrot (''Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nativ ...

) as well as spices (such as

parsley Parsley, or garden parsley (''Petroselinum crispum'') is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae that is native to the central and eastern Mediterranean region (Sardinia, Lebanon, Israel, Cyprus, Turkey, southern Italy, Greece, Por ...

thyme Thyme () is the herb (dried aerial parts) of some members of the genus ''Thymus'' of aromatic perennial evergreen herbs in the mint family Lamiaceae. Thymes are relatives of the oregano genus ''Origanum'', with both plants being mostly indigenou ...

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diame ...

, and

bay leaf The bay leaf is an aromatic leaf commonly used in cooking. It can be used whole, either dried or fresh, in which case it is removed from the dish before consumption, or less commonly used in ground form. It may come from several species of tr ...

). *

Pretzel A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

* Red beet eggs (pickled beet eggs) *

Sauerbraten Sauerbraten is a traditional German roast of heavily marinated meat. It is regarded as a national dish of Germany, and is frequently served in German-style restaurants internationally. It can be prepared from a variety of meats, most often from ...

—sour roast, is any one of various meats and spices that are marinated for several days in vinegar or wine, vegetables are added to the marinade during the final day. Sauerbraten was traditionally made using horse meat, but beef or other cuts of meat are now favored. It is often served with dumplings and red cabbage. Sauerbraten remains very popular throughout Germany. *

Schnitz un knepp Schnitz un knepp, often spelled Schnitz un Gnepp or Schnitz und Knepp, is a popular main dish item in the cuisine of the Pennsylvania Dutch in the United States. It is basically a dish of ham or pork shoulder with dried apples and dumplings. D ...

Scrapple Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name ''Pannhaas'' ("pan tenderloin" in English), is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices. The mush is formed ...

Desserts

Angel food cake Angel food cake, or angel cake, is a type of sponge cake made with egg whites, flour, and sugar. A whipping agent, such as cream of tartar, is commonly added. It differs from other cakes because it uses no butter. Its aerated texture comes from w ...

Apple dumplings An apple dumpling is a baked or boiled pastry-wrapped apple. To prepare apple dumplings, apples are peeled, cored and sometimes quartered and placed on a portion of dough. The hole from the core may be filled with cinnamon, butter and sugar and ...

Dutch baby pancake A Dutch baby pancake, sometimes called a German pancake, a Bismarck, a Dutch puff, or a Hootenanny, is a large American popover. A Dutch baby is similar to a large Yorkshire pudding. Unlike most pancakes, Dutch babies are baked in the oven, r ...

*Church spread—made from molasses or corn syrup, marshmallow cream, and peanut butter, often found at Amish church services and community events. *Cracker pudding—thickened with saltine crackers * Fastnachts *

Funnel cake Funnel cake (Pennsylvania German: ''Drechderkuche'') is a regional sweet food popular in North America, found mainly at carnivals and amusement parks. It is made by deep-frying batter. History The concept of the funnel cake dates back to the ea ...

*Funny cake—a combination of pie and cake that is made by baking a cake surrounded by pie crust, marbled throughout with chocolate streaks. *

Whoopie pie The whoopie pie, alternatively called a black moon, gob (term indigenous to the Pittsburgh region), black-and-white, bob, or "BFO" for Big Fat Oreo (also recorded as "Devil Dogs" and "Twins" in 1835), is an American baked product that may be cons ...

*Montgomery pie—buttery crust with a gooey molasses and lemon filling and a buttermilk cake topping. *

Moravian sugar cake Moravian sugar cake is a sweet coffee cake that is often made in areas around Moravian Church settlements, particularly in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. It is made with a sweet yeast dough enriched with mashed potatoes. The dough is left to rise ...

Shoofly pie Shoofly pie is a type of American pie made with molasses associated with Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. While shoo-fly pie has been a staple of Moravian, Mennonite and Amish foodways, there is scant evidence concerning its origins, and most of the ...

—molasses crumb cake with a pie crust for easier eating. *

Sugar cookies A sugar cookie is a cookie with the main ingredients being sugar, flour, butter, eggs, vanilla, and either baking powder or baking soda (depending on the type of sugar used). Sugar cookies may be formed by hand, dropped, or rolled and cut ...

Notes

External links

PA Dutch Country recipesBerks County Pennsylvania Dutch recipesPennsylvania Dutch recipes from Chester County, the Lehigh Valley, etc.
{{Amish

Amish in Pennsylvania