Goetta

{{Short description|US pork and oats dish}} {{For|the racehorse|Goetta (horse)}} {{Infobox food | name = Goetta | image = Goetta at Price Hill Chili - Cincinnati, Ohio.jpg | caption = Goetta sandwich | alternate_name = | country = Cincinnati metropolitan area | region = | national_cuisine = American | creator =  | year = | mintime = | maxtime = | type = Sausage or Mush | course = Breakfast | served = Hot | main_ingredient = Steel-cut oats; pork or beef | minor_ingredient = Onion, spices, herbs | variations = | serving_size = 56 g | calories = 180 | protein = 8g | fat = 12g | carbohydrate = 10g | glycemic_index = | similar_dish = Knipp, scrapple | other = }} '''Goetta''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɡ|ɛ|t|ə}} {{respell|GHET|ə}})<ref name="seriouseats.com"/> is a meat-and-grain sausage or mush<ref name="citybeat18">{{cite news |title=Seven Innovative Takes on Cincinnati Goetta to Change Your Mind About the Meat |url=https://www.citybeat.com/food-drink/eats-feature/article/21016807/seven-innovative-takes-on-beloved-cincinnati-goetta |access-date=27 October 2018 |work=City Beat |date=7 Aug 2018}}</ref> of German inspiration that is popular in metro Cincinnati. It is primarily composed of ground meat (pork, or sausage and beef), steel-cut oats and spices.<ref name=":2">{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sh4DAAAAMBAJ&q=downtown+cincinnati&pg=PA144 | title=Are You Ready For Cincinnati? | publisher=Cincinnati Magazine | work=Cincinnati USA City Guide | year=2007 | access-date=2013-05-06 | author=Smith, Steve| page=144|display-authors=etal}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=DeLetter|first=Emily|date=29 October 2021|title=Merriam-Webster (finally) recognizes Goetta, adds word to the dictionary|url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2021/10/29/goetta-merriam-webster-dictionary-cincinnati/6190545001/|access-date=2021-10-30|website=Cincinnati Enquirer|language=en-US}}</ref> It was originally a dish meant to stretch out servings of meat over several meals to conserve money,<ref name="escoffier15">{{cite web |last1=Larson |first1=Sarah |title=HOW TO MAKE CINCINNATI'S WEIRD, TASTY BREAKFAST MEAT, GOETTA |url=https://www.escoffieronline.com/how-to-make-cincinnatis-weird-tasty-breakfast-meat-goetta/ |website=Escoffier Online |access-date=27 October 2018|date=2015-08-28 }}</ref> and is a similar dish to scrapple and livermush, both also developed by German immigrants.<ref name="eater18">{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Jason |title=Everything You Need to Know About Scrapple |url=https://www.eater.com/2015/9/1/9211867/scrapple-goetta-livermush-what-is-it |website=Eater |access-date=27 October 2018|date=September 2015 }}</ref>

==Origins and popularity== The dish probably originated with German settlers from the northwestern regions of Oldenburg, Hannover, and Westphalia who emigrated to the Cincinnati area in the 19th century.<ref name="seriouseats.com">{{cite web|last=RAPOSO|first=JACQUELINE|date=|title=Goetta: The Cincinnati German-American Breakfast Staple|url=http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/10/goetta-the-cincinnati-german-american-breakfast-staple.html|access-date=18 April 2015|work=seriouseats.com|archive-date=24 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150424215552/http://www.seriouseats.com/2013/10/goetta-the-cincinnati-german-american-breakfast-staple.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="goetta.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.goetta.com/en/history/ |title=Glier's History - Glier's Goetta |work=goetta.com |access-date=18 April 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402143054/http://www.goetta.com/en/history/ |archive-date=2 April 2015 }}</ref> The word goetta comes from the Low German word Götte, meaning groats or coarse grains (or a food made from them).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goetta | title=Goetta | date=10 April 2022 }}</ref> In and around Oldenburg, this sausage is called Pinkelwurst (goetta sausage), and available in the winter months in a dish called Gruenkohl mit Pinkel (kale with Goetta sausage). Another similar dish is grutzwurst.<ref name=":2" />

The first commercial producer was Sander Packing.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Furbee|first=Bill|date=July 29, 2019|title='Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable History' is a New Book About This Classic Cincinnati Dish|url=https://www.citybeat.com/food-drink/the-dish/article/21080093/cincinnati-goetta-a-delectable-history-is-a-new-book-about-this-classic-cincinnati-dish|access-date=July 31, 2019|website=CityBeat Cincinnati|language=en}}</ref>

==Composition== thumb|right|A conventional log of goetta thumb|right|Goetta is usually sold in logs or as slices from a bulk loaf, but links are also available. While goetta comes in a variety of forms, all goetta is based around ground meat combined with pin-head oats, the "traditional Low German cook's way of stretching a minimum amount of meat to feed a maximum number of people."<ref name="500things">{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.com/500-Things-Eat-Before-Late-ebook/dp/B002L4QOYO/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1437926253&sr=1-1&keywords=500+things+to+eat+before | title=500 Things to Eat Before it's Too Late:and the Very Best Places to Eat Them | publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | author=Stern, Jane and Michael | author-link=Jane and Michael Stern | year=2009 | location=New York | isbn=978-0-547-05907-5}}</ref>{{rp|244}} Usually goetta is made from pork, but occasionally contains equal parts pork and beef. Goetta is typically flavored with some combination of bay leaves, rosemary, black pepper, cloves, and thyme.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Campbell |first=Polly |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1202462923 |title=Cincinnati Food A History of Queen City Cuisine. |date=2020 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing Inc |isbn=978-1-4396-7131-3 |pages=40+ |oclc=1202462923}}</ref> It contains onions and sometimes other vegetables.<ref name="seriouseats.com"/> The USDA standards for goetta require that it contain no less than 50% meat.<ref name="usda">{{cite web |title=Food Standards and Labelling Book |url=https://fyi.uwex.edu/meats/files/2011/12/Labeling_Policy_Book_082005.pdf |publisher=US Dept of Agriculture |access-date=27 October 2018 |archive-date=27 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027190045/https://fyi.uwex.edu/meats/files/2011/12/Labeling_Policy_Book_082005.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

While similar to Pennsylvanian scrapple and North Carolinian livermush in that it is a dish created by German immigrants and uses a grain product for the purpose of stretching out pork to feed more people, scrapple is made with cornmeal and livermush with either cornmeal or rice rather than the pinhead oats used in goetta.<ref name="charlotte18">{{cite news |last1=Dewan |first1=James |title=Move over, livermush: Goetta may be even better |url=https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/food-drink/article217790360.html |access-date=27 October 2018 |work=Charlotte Observer |date=4 September 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6mh0iOdtWYC&q=cincinnati+chili&pg=PA10 | title=The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili | publisher=The History Press | date=April 16, 2013 | access-date=2013-05-18 | author=Woellert, Dann | page=10| isbn=9781609499921 }}</ref> In other parts of Ohio where Germans settled there are similar dishes named grits or grutze.<ref name=":1" />

==Preparation and serving== Goetta is made with meat, oats, broth, spices, often onions, and occasionally other vegetables, simmered until thick, poured into loaf pans, and chilled or allowed to cool completely so that the loaves become firm enough to slice. It is then cut into slices and fried, often in butter.<ref name="500things" />{{rp|244}}

Traditionally goetta is served as a breakfast food, but it is also put into sandwiches and used as a topping for burgers and pizza.<ref name="takeout17">{{cite web |last1=Rife |first1=Katie |title=ACQUIRED TASTES Goetta, Cincinnati's second most-famous food, is a sausage for the working man |url=https://thetakeout.com/goetta-cincinnati-s-second-most-famous-food-is-a-saus-1798256324 |website=The Takeout |date=6 December 2017 |access-date=27 October 2018}}</ref>

==Commercial distribution== A number of commercial distributors produce and sell goetta in the parts of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana near Cincinnati. Glier's Goetta, established in 1946, produces more than 1,000,000 lb (450 metric tons) annually, around 99 percent of which is consumed locally in Greater Cincinnati.<ref name="goetta.com" /> Queen City Sausage is the next largest producer, while multiple small and artisanal producers also make goetta in and around Cincinnati.<ref name=seriouseats.com />

==Goettafest== "Glier's Goettafest" is an annual culinary festival held in August on the Ohio River waterfront near Newport, Kentucky's Newport on the Levee. The festival celebrates both the dish and Greater Cincinnati's German American heritage. While the main focus of the festival is goetta served in many different ways, it also typically includes music, dancing, and other public entertainment.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goettafest.com/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040326070138/http://goettafest.com/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=March 26, 2004 |title=Glier's GoettaFest |publisher=Goettafest.com |access-date=2015-04-23}}</ref> In 2019 it expanded to two consecutive weekends.<ref name="brookbankENQ9apr2019">{{cite web |last1=Brookbank |first1=Saran |title=Craving more Goettafest? Festival expands to 8 days over 2 weekends |url=https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/04/09/craving-more-goettafest-festival-expands-2-weekends-newport/3410923002/ |publisher=Cincinnati Enquirer |access-date=20 April 2019}}</ref> The first festival was held in 2002.<ref name=":1" />

==Misconception== thumb|A plate of pan-fried Knipp with apple sauce

Glier's markets goetta as the "German Breakfast Sausage,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.goetta.com/|title=Glier's Goetta|work=goetta.com|access-date=18 April 2015}}</ref> which may create the impression that it is something commonly eaten for breakfast in Germany. Cincinnati food expert Dann Woellert says, "Will you find something on a menu called goetta in a Westphalian gasthaus? The answer is no," but that grützwurst and knipp are similar "meat gruels".<ref name="woellert14">{{cite web |last1=Woellert |first1=Dan |title=A Mispronounced German Delicacy |url=https://dannwoellertthefoodetymologist.wordpress.com/2014/08/05/a-mispronounced-german-delicacy/ |access-date=27 October 2018|date=2014-08-05 }}</ref>

== Further reading ==

* ''Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable History'' (2019)<ref name=":0" />''<ref name="Woellert2019">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lDKeDwAAQBAJ|title=Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable History|author=Dann Woellert|date=22 July 2019|publisher=Arcadia Publishing Incorporated|isbn=978-1-4396-6745-3}}</ref>''

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Cuisine of Cincinnati Category:Cuisine of Kentucky Category:American sausages Category:German-American culture in Cincinnati Category:German-American cuisine Category:Breakfast Category:Meat and grain sausages Category:Savory puddings Category:Precooked sausages Category:American pork dishes