Kissin wears out … cookin’ don’t
Jacob’s at the table and half et already
PROVEN RECIPES FOR TRADITIONAL
PENNSYLVANIA Dutch FOODS
PENNSYLVANIA Dutch COOKERY
In 1683 the Plain Sects began to arrive in William Penn’s Colony seekinga land of peace and plenty. They were a mixed people; Moravians fromBohemia and Moravia, Mennonites from Switzerland and Holland, theAmish, the Dunkards, the Schwenkfelds, and the French Huguenots. Afterthe lean years of clearing the land and developing their farms they establishedthe peace and plenty they sought. These German-speaking people wereoriginally called the Pennsylvania Deutsch but time and custom have causedthem to be known to us as the Pennsylvania Dutch.
The Pennsylvania Dutch are a hard working people and as they say,“Them that works hard, eats hearty.” The blending of recipes from theirmany home lands and the ingredients available in their new land producedtasty dishes that have been handed down from mother to daughter forgenerations. Their cooking was truly a folk art requiring much intuitiveknowledge, for recipes contained measurements such as “flour to stiffen,”“butter the size of a walnut,” and “large as an apple.” Many of the recipeshave been made more exact and standardized providing us with a regionalcookery we can all enjoy.
Soups are a traditional part of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking and the Dutchhousewife can apparently make soup out of anything. If she has only milkand flour she can still make rivel soup. However, most of their soups aresturdier dishes, hearty enough to serve as the major portion of the eveningmeal. One of the favorite summer soups in the Pennsylvania Dutch countryis Chicken Corn Soup. Few Sunday School picnic suppers would be consideredcomplete without gallons of this hearty soup.
Many of the Pennsylvania Dutch foods are a part of their folklore. NoShrove Tuesday would be complete without raised doughnuts called“fastnachts.” One of the many folk tales traces this custom back to theburnt offerings made by their old country ancestors to the goddess of spring.With the coming of Christianity the custom became associated with theEaster season and “fastnachts” are eaten on Shrove Tuesday to insure livingto next Shrove Tuesday. Young dandelion greens are eaten on MaundyThursday in order to remain well throughout the year.
The Christmas season is one of the busiest times in the PennsylvaniaDutch kitchen. For weeks before Christmas the house is filled with thesmell of almond cookies, anise cookies, sandtarts, Belsnickle Christmascookie