Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine - Definition and Overview

Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the Pennsylvania Dutch, and it has had a considerable influence on the areas in which they originally settled, Central and Southeastern Pennsylvania, as well as the neighboring areas that they have migrated to over time. Though its base strongly reflects their German heritage, it has developed into a distinctly different cuisine over the centuries that they have lived in America; it also manifests their simple, largely agricultural lifestyles, the resources made available to them in Pennsylvania Dutch Country, as well as the various regional and religious backgrounds from which they stem.

Foods of Pennsylvania Dutch origin include:

• Scrapple
• Pickled beet eggs
• Schnitz un knepp
• Rivvel soup
• Chow-chow
• Apple butter

Desserts:

• Shoofly pie
• Whoopie pies
• Funnel cake
• Fastnachts
• Apple dumplings