Cincinnati loves goetta.
Since its arrival with nineteenth-century Germanic immigrants, this
humble dish has evolved from peasant staple to ubiquitous delicacy. Once
upon a time, Cincinnatians found goetta mostly in neighborhood butcher
shops, in Over-the-Rhine's so-called Goetta Alley and through Sander
Packing, its first commercial producer. Now hungry locals scarf it down
at diners and white-linen establishments alike and in everything from
egg rolls to Reuben sandwiches. Tracing goetta from its Germanic origins
and its first stop in Greater Cincinnati to its largest commercial
producers, Queen City Sausage and Gliers, food etymologist and
Goettevangelist Dann Woellert explores goetta's history in the city that
made it regionally famous.