goetta

{{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}}) is a meat-and-grain sausage or mush{{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}} 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.{{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}}{{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}} It was originally a dish meant to stretch out servings of meat over several meals to conserve money,{{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 }} and is a similar dish to scrapple and livermush, both also developed by German immigrants.{{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 }}

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.{{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}}{{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 }} The word goetta comes from the Low German word Götte, meaning groats or coarse grains (or a food made from them).{{cite web | url=https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/goetta | title=Goetta | date=10 April 2022 }} 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.

The first commercial producer was Sander Packing.{{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}}

Composition

File:Goetta tube.jpg

File:Goetta Link.JPG

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."{{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}}{{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.{{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}} It contains onions and sometimes other vegetables. The USDA standards for goetta require that it contain no less than 50% meat.{{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 }}

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.{{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}}{{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 }} In other parts of Ohio where Germans settled there are similar dishes named grits or grutze.

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.{{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.{{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}}

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. Queen City Sausage is the next largest producer, while multiple small and artisanal producers also make goetta in and around Cincinnati.

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.{{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}} In 2019 it expanded to two consecutive weekends.{{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}} The first festival was held in 2002.

Misconception

File:Knipp with Apple sauce.jpg

Glier's markets goetta as the "German Breakfast Sausage,"{{cite web|url=http://www.goetta.com/|title=Glier's Goetta|work=goetta.com|access-date=18 April 2015}} 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".{{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 }}