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 bakedpastries on cabbage leaves to provide some protection from hot spots that could develop in the oven.[2]
Soups, often featuringegg noodles, are characteristic of the Pennsylvania Dutch.[1] Pennsylvanian Dutch homes have traditionally had manybroths on hand (vegetable, fish,poultry, 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 coldfruit soups."[3] Soups were traditionally divided into different categories, includingSippli, which is a light broth,Koppsupper, a cup soup,Suppe, which is a thick,chowder soup often served as a meal with bread, andG'schmorte, a soup with no broth often like aBrei orgravy.[4]
Apple dumpling—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.[6]
Bova Shankel—a pierogi-type dish of potato dumplings and sauce.[7]
Brown butter noodles—egg noodles combined with butter that was melted and browned in a pan.[6]
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.[6]
Chicken corn soup—made with egg noodles and sometimessaffron, which has been cultivated in Pennsylvania Dutch country since the early 19th century; egg noodles, corn, hard boiled eggs, and chicken. Sometimes an addition isrivels, smalldumplings.[6]
Sauerbraten—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.[10]
^Kitchen, Lori Fogg, A. Coalcracker in the (2025-02-16)."Pennsylvania Dutch Boova Shenkel".NorthcentralPA.com. Retrieved2025-11-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
