The origins of Goetta, a well known Cincinnati Oh./Covington Ky. breakfast food, are obscure, but it might be another really good illustration of how regional cuisine is affected by the blending of immigrant groups. Cincinnati is really a laboratory of these effects. (This really is totally different from fusion which describes the merchandise of the Japanese chef who studied in Toscana.) Some say Goetta (initially pronounced gœ'-ta however nowadays pronounced gedda) originates from Scrapple, a Pennsylvania Nederlander (German) dish from the neighboring condition. Others say it is a frontier type of Haggis, introduced in to the Ohio Valley by Scots-Irish migrants via Kentucky. Contributing to the mystery is always that the name goetta sits dormant anywhere outdoors the higher Cincinnati area.
It's reasonable to think the Irish-oatmeal pancakes (really, a polenta. or pan-fried thickened oat porridge or mush) eaten through the Scots-Irish in Kentucky, and often richened with humble pork (or organ meat) scraps to create a hearty Haggis substitute, was adapted by an Amish/German Scrapple recipe in Cincinnati or Covington, while using Irish polenta instead of the corn meal polenta to thicken and stretch the meat scraps right into a cheap, high-energy meal.
However if you simply possess a better theory, tell me. Don't let me know it originated from Germany. Regardless of its German-sounding name, and it is recognition in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky's German community, I discovered a recipe for this in just one German cook book, also it lists its origin as mittleren Westen der USA -- the U.S. Midwest. So it may be German-American, although not German. So you will find a niche sausage in Germany and Belgium known as grützwurst containing oatmeal, but grützwurst bears no resemblance to goetta.
The fundamental ingredients are meat scraps (leftover pork, beef, or organ meat for example hearts) and steel-cut oatmeal (known as pinhead oatmeal in Cincinnati). Modern recipes call only for supermarket ground pork or ground pork and beef, but traditionalists uses the meat from steamed pork neck bones, a tribute to Cincy's pork-processing heritage.
The steel-cut oatmeal might be hard to locate. You can'tsubstitute Quaker Oatmeal or folded oatmeal or other type of oatmeal (except pinhead oatmeal) and obtain correct results. Some niche food stores, health-food stores, and yuppie supermarkets carry Steel-Cut Irish Oatmeal, or think it is online. Obviously, if you reside in the higher Cincinnati area, you'll find original pinhead oatmeal marketed underneath the Dorsel brand.
There's a conventional (lengthy) way along with a shorter method to prepare this dish. The standard strategy is to begin 2 days in advance (unless of course you've cooked pork meat and broth at hands) using pork neck bones. The shorter way can be achieved over a couple of hrs, but at the time prior, using leftover cooked pork or ground pork or pork sausage, hamburger, and eager stock. The standard strategy is forget about difficult, but requires more planning, and it is cheaper. The shorter way must be prepared the night time before, because the mixture should be refrigerated before pan-frying. (Yes, you can purchase or mail-order prepared goetta, however you would not read to this point.)
This is a great dish for any crockpot or slow oven. Browse the recipe and choose which way for you to do it depending on how enough time you've as well as your shopping preferences.