Pork Cake
Pennsylvania Dutch cooking is a marvel. Most recipes consist of a permutation of organ meats, butter, lard, and molasses, all either smoked or fried in more butter. Here’s a representative sample recipe:
Pork Cake
1 pound of ground pork
2 cups boiling water
2 cups sugar
1 cup molasses
1 pound raisins
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon each of cloves and nutmeg
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/4 teaspoons soda
1/4 pound citron
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup gum drops, chopped
Pour boiling water over pork and allow to stand until almost cool. Add soda to molasses and mix with sugar, combine with pork and blend together. Sift flour; measure and add salt, soda and spices. Sift again. Add dry ingredients. Mix together well. Fold in chopped fruits, nuts and candy. Pour into large, greased loaf pans. Bake at 275ยบ for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
- Taken from Mary Emma Showalter’s Mennonite Community Cookbook.
This recipe mixes ground pork, raisins, and gum drops. I’ve noticed that almost every ethnic group has some sort of distinctive food that members of the group eat with great gusto and everyone else finds atrocious. Scrapple would probably be the best PA Dutch equivalent, though there are plenty more. Examples in other cultures include nattou in Japan, grasshoppers in parts of Mexico and China, and British food in Britain. What’s up with that, people?
This entry was posted on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 11:00 pm and is filed under actual food. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
2 Responses to “Pork Cake”
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Maryanne said on February 6, 2009 at 7:11 am:
Your view is interesting. I’ve always considered PA Dutch food to consist of starch covered in starch, served with more starch and some *schpeck* (fat).
And where is the organ meat in Shoofly Pie?