Christmas Feast, Pennsylvania Dutch Style
Immigrant Groups Brought their Customs to America
Dec 17, 2007
Pennsylvania Dutch History and Traditional Palatinate Christmas Dinner
During the 1600s to the early 1800s, German and Swiss immigrants from the European Palatinate region arrived in America. This group primarily settled in the Keystone State and was called the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Like other groups who came to America, they brought their customs and traditions with them. The most notable Christmas item Palatinate people contributed to the New Country is the Christmas tree, tradition of which has Pagan roots.
The “Dutchmen” and local Native American tribes introduced each other to foods from the Old Country and the new one, mixing them and creating Pennsylvania Dutch cookery.
Dinner for the December holiday is special: hearty and “wonderful good” food. Celebrate Christmas with a Pennsylvania Dutch feast.
Roast Goose
Goose is the traditional meat served since Medieval times in the Palatinate region at Christmas. Germanic lore is it that this bird accompanied the god Woden on his wild hunts during Yuletide.
Recipe:
- Pierce a 10 pound goose with a meat fork on all sides.
- Roast for about three hours in 325 degree heat oven, pricking the skin every half hour to release the fat. Goose is done when juices run clear.
- Allow to stand ten minutes before carving.
- Goose can be roasted the day before, carved and wrapped in foil, layered with margarine and reheated.
Stewed Red Cabbage
Serving red cabbage on the winter solstice also dates back to Medieval times in the Palatinate.
Recipe:
- Shred 1 medium head red cabbage.
- Dice 4 slices bacon and cook until golden.
- Slightly brown cabbage in the bacon and drippings.
- Add ½ c cider vinegar, ¼ c water and 4 packs sweetener to cabbage.
- Simmer, covered ½ hour.
Potato Dumplings
Recipe:
- Mix 4 c mashed potatoes with 4 beaten eggs and 2 c flour.
- Pinch off dough about the size of a walnut and drop pieces, so they don’t touch, into boiling salted water.
- Cook for 15 minutes. Remove dumplings from water.
- Continue making the dumplings until dough is used up.
- To reheat, boil in water until hot or braise in ¼ c margarine in covered pan, stirring as needed.
Corn, Lima Bean and Tomato Medley
- Cook 2 16 oz packages each frozen corn and lima beans. Drain.
- Dice 2 medium tomatoes.
- Melt 3 Tbs margarine in skillet.
- Add vegetables and cook over low heat ½ hour, stirring as needed.
Oyster “Filling” or “Stuffing”
This recipe is one of many variations.
- Grease baking dish with spray or margarine.
- Drain 1 pint oysters.
- Crush about 3 c oyster crackers. Cover bottom of dish with cracker crumbs.
- Add oyster layer. Cover with crumbs. Dot with margarine. Add layer of hard boiled egg slices, covering with crumbs. Dot with margarine.
- Continue layering until oysters are used up.
- Last layer is crumbs dotted with margarine.
- Pour on milk to cover.
- Bake at 325 degrees for at least 1 hour, adding milk as necessary.
Baked Apples
- Mix 6 packs sweetener with 1 c apple juice, ¼ tsp almond extract, 1 pinch each ground nutmeg and cinnamon and 1/3 c citron. Boil. Simmer 10 minutes.
- Pour mixture over thin slices of 7 apples.
- Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until apples are tender.
Related articles:
Sources:
HexCraft, Silver RavenWolf, (Llewellyn Publications, 1995)
The Food Book, James Trager, (Grossman Publishers, 1970)
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