Dutch Lovin'

Growing up in New Tripoli, PA, deep in the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, had its perks. Usually, they came in the form of fried food. Exhibit A: homemade deep-fried pierogies stuffed with potato and sauerkraut or onion were served at all public events, and were especially prevalent at high school football games. Funnelcake often made appearances as well. Crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside, both treats were served hot enough to almost blister your tongue. But on a frigid November night under the lights of the stadium, there's nothing better than one hand thawing against the heat coming through the paper plate, the other burning as it holds onto the fried dough.

Exhibit B: Fastnacht Day. Also called Doughnut Day, or Fat Tuesday, is celebrated (as all holidays should be, in my opinion) by the mass production of homemade deep-fried doughnuts. This is a sort of grand devil-may-care gesture of gluttony before the start of Lent. Before modern food refrigeration and preservation technology, the fat most commonly used was lard, which didn't have a shelf life long enough to stay usable throughout the 40 days of Lenten fasting. P.A. Dutch women, therefore, needed to use up their family's stores of lard before Ash Wednesday so that it wouldn't go to waste. And what uses more lard than deep-frying? Not a whole lot. So the delectable legacy of the noble Fastnacht was born. Made with potato starch and yeast, these syrupy delights invaded my home town every Fastnacht Day. From local truckstops, farm stands, and diners to my school lunch tray, they swarmed like delicious locusts, ready and willing to trounce any hopes of eating vegetables. Don't even think about it. For one glorious day, doughnuts were king. One pastry to rule them all. And then suddenly, when Ash Wednesday reared its ugly, abstemious head, they all disappeared for another long year.

Not every Dutchie dish is lucky enough to be as tasty as a fastnacht or pierogi, mind you. Many a meal of my youth required that I turn a blind eye to such atrocities as chow-chow (random sweet pickled vegetables...like cauliflower and beans) and hot bacon salad dressing (sugar, vinegar, and bacon drippings) and head cheese (don't ask). As a child, these dishes seemed to be crimes against nature, obscene in their use of sweet pickling and gristly bits.

Luckily for me, the Pennsylvania Dutch Mall in Cockeysville, MD exists to drum me out of the anti-sweet relish stupor of my youth and into some truly delicious fare, from old-fashioned light and dark roasted peanuts to tasty shoo fly pie and slow-cooked pulled pork. And since the illustrious Kutztown festival is too far for a day trip, it's my only source for Dutchie goodness other than the internet. Joanna's got a great (Polish) pierogi recipe on her blog and other tasty P.A. Dutch recipes can be found here. This is true in my hometown.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some fastnachts to wait for.