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 Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the Pennsylvania Dutch. Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine reflects influences of the Pennsylvania Dutch's German heritage, agrarian society, and rejection of rapid change.David Rosengart ...

in the United States. It is basically a dish of

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

or pork shoulder with dried apples and

dumplings Dumplings are a broad class of dishes that consist of pieces of cooked dough (made from a variety of starchy sources), often wrapped around a filling. The dough can be based on bread, wheat or other flours, or potatoes, and it may be filled wi ...

Description

Apple schnitz are dried slices of apples. Knepp, from the German "Knöpfe" for "buttons," are dumplings. Although the Amish arrived during the early eighteenth century, this food was not common until the early nineteenth century, when

Johnny Appleseed Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman; September 26, 1774March 18, 1845) was an American pioneer nurseryman who introduced trees grown with apple seeds (as opposed to trees grown with grafting) to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, I ...

planted many orchards on the frontier of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana. At the time, home canning was not yet practical, so the apple crop was preserved in liquid form (most commonly as hard cider) or sliced and dried, the finished slices being called snitz. Apples, other than named varieties grafted from a parent tree, were usually small, misshapen and rather tart. Drying the snitz concentrated the fruit sugars, making them a bright spot in an otherwise dreary diet. Today, commercial producers of apple snitz use named-variety apples that cannot be sold fresh due to blemishes. The apples are then peeled or cored and sliced to make snitz. The peels are then pressed for separate sales as cider. The dish uses dumplings made from

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, baking powder, butter, salt, and

eggs An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo begins to develop. Egg, EGG or eggs may also refer to: Biology * Egg cell, the female reproductive cell (gamete) in oogamous organisms Food * Eggs as food Places * Egg, Austria * Egg, Switzerland ...

, and is flavored with

, traditionally salt-cured "country ham," although honey ham, pork butt, or other pork may be used. Onions, potatoes, cloves, cinnamon and brown sugar are optional ingredients. An alternative knepp is a yeast dumpling made without sugar. This recipe calls for long cooking, and is thus a winter dish. The pronunciation is "shnitz-en-nep," /ʃnɪts ʊn nɛp/

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schnitz Un Knepp Cuisine of the Pennsylvania Dutch Apple dishes Ham dishes

Description

See also

References