Goetta’s got it going on
Cincinnati chefs are getting creative with this mashup of meat and grain
CINCINNATI — Chris Breeden, manager of Arnold’s Bar and Grill, open since 1861, describes his casual menu as “Cincinnati condensed.”
Burger meat is a mix of ground chuck, short ribs and Wagyu beef from the 125-year-old Avril Bleh butcher shop, four blocks away. Patties go on buns from the local Sixteen Bricks Bakery. The default side is Grippo’s potato chips, made in Cincy since 1919.
The best-selling specialty burger is Yo Mama, named for Ronda Breeden, mother of Chris and a longtime Arnold’s waitress who worked her way up to owner at the city’s oldest bar.
“It’s like breakfast on a burger, and the hardest burger to make” because of all the layers, the son explains. The cheeseburger gets a spicy kick from chipotle mayo and a potato pancake spiked with crushed red pepper.
On top is a sunny side up egg, but what makes the pudgy sandwich truly indigenous is a thin slice of fried goetta (that’s GET-ah).
Goetta?
“It was medieval peasant food,” says David Glier of Glier’s Meats, whose family produces more than a million pounds of goetta a year in Covington, Kentucky, a hop across the Ohio River from Cincinnati.
What began as a humble German stew of long-simmering oats, seasonings and ground-meat scraps — pork and beef livers, hearts, tongues, skin and more — has turned into a ubiquitous food of regional pride, used by chefs in both casual and upscale settings.
“So many opinions about goetta are out there, starting with ‘I’ll never touch that,’ ” says Dann Woellert, a food historian and author of “Cincinnati Goetta: A Delectable History” (Arcadia Publishing, 2019). He’s a selfproclaimed “goettevangelist.”
“Some chefs have taken goetta to almost a hipster level,” he says.
Brewers too: Christian Moerlein Brewing Co. released a goetta-inspired beer (made with pinhead oats) for Cincy’s first goetta pub crawl this year.
Chefs across the city have embraced goetta as a local product, and some are taking culinary risks with it, spicing it up with jalapeno and cayenne.
For the city’s famed Oktoberfest, Busken Bakery made glazed doughnuts filled with cinnamon crunch ice cream and goetta. Another vendor called “Hey Hey” sold goetta sauerkraut balls.
Taste of Belgium at The Banks, known for its waffles and crepes, serves the slightly sweet ’Nati crepe, filled with a fried egg, goetta, havarti cheese, roasted peppers and onions.
“Which brings up the subject of how to dress goetta: with ketchup, marmalade, syrup,” Woellert says.
The Netherland eggs Benedict combines goetta, roasted tomatoes and a bearnaise aioli on an English muffin at The Grille at Palm Court, inside Cincinnati’s downtown Hilton, where executive chef George Zappas makes his own goetta — a recipe he developed while working as the hotel’s butcher.
A mile north at Findlay Market , midday entrees at French Crust Cafe & Bistro include a flaky pastry with a sauteed veggie relish, poached egg, hollandaise sauce and goetta. The restaurant is operated by chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, who also brought fivestar dining to Cincinnati.
Eckerlin Meats, a block away, sells goetta by the loaf and pound, or sliced and grilled on egg-andcheese sandwiches. Eckerlin sells 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of goetta weekly. It’s made with only pork shoulder and beef chuck, meaning it’s “leaner, higher in fiber and less sloppy,” says Josh Lillis, one of several family members working at that butcher shop that’s over 150 years old. The seasoning blend, although proprietary, “is nothing crazy or super unique.”
“Goetta used to be made out of necessity,” Lillis notes. “Feeding a family meant using an animal from head to toe.”
Lillis says Cincinnatians care deeply about goetta, especially in West Side neighborhoods that stick to tradition.
“They talk about whether it’s too meaty, has too much oats or doesn’t flip properly,” Lillis says.
What began as hearty winter food is now sold year-round. It pops up in some unlikely places.
At Catch-a-Fire Pizza inside MadTree Brewing in the Oakley neighborhood, goetta and a cracked egg top the Goettup, Stand Up pie.
“Most of our pizzas are named after Bob Marley songs,” write Jeff and Melissa Ledford, the husband-wife owners.
Roasted garlic and olive oil, caramelized onions, peppadew peppers and cheeses complete the pizza. Goetta is browned a little before going onto the pie, and browns more while baking.
Even Camp Washington Chili, which goes through 60 gallons of chili a day, began sneaking in goetta this year. But you have to know to ask for the “513 Way,” a customer’s creation named after the local area code.
Owner Maria Papakirk says the 513 Way begins with a base of grilled goetta instead of spaghetti. Then it’s standard five-way chili: red beans, meaty chili sauce, diced onions and shredded cheddar. The goetta comes from Queen City Sausage, best known for making bratwurst and mettwurst.
“We use the same premium meats for goetta,” says Queen City Sausage marketing director Mark Balasa. “Ours are not made with meat scraps” and onion is added to deepen flavor. The company sells 5-pound bricks to pre-sliced packs of goetta.
“They look like hockey pucks,” quips founder Elmer Hensler.
Goetta production has tripled in 10 years.
Don’t call it scrapple because “that’s mushier” and made with cornmeal, says Glier of Glier’s Meats. He considers it more like a hardy oatmeal than sausage. Goetta usually stays softer inside than meatloaf, so it breaks apart more easily when sliced and fried.
The ratio of pork to beef matters. So do the seasonings and choice of steel cut or pinhead oats as the binder. The mixture simmers for several hours, until the oats balloon and soak in the flavor of the meaty broth.
An acquired taste? Perhaps.
But the midsummer Glier’s Goettafest that began as a oneday party in 2001 has expanded to eight days of goetta, beer, music and T-shirts emblazoned with slogans like “Goetta Grip” or “Goetta Life.” Goetta is sold in mac and cheese, omelets, nachos and fried rice. Sliced goetta is fried for sliders, kabobs and glazed doughnuts. Quesadillas, tacos and calzones are filled with the festival’s namesake product.
“When people make this at home, and some still do,” Glier says, “it’s usually part of a meal at Grandma’s for Christmas.”
Finding ‘Joy’ in Cincinnati: Cincinnati is well represented in one of the country’s most popular cookbooks, “Joy of Cooking,” whose ninth edition hit shelves Nov. 12. That’s no coincidence: Marion Becker, daughter of original “Joy” author Irma Rombauer, had a home near the city and added regional favorites to cookbook editions after her mother’s death.
Those additions include Becker’s recipe for goetta.
Co-author John Becker, grandson of Marion, says he wasn’t raised on goetta in Cincinnati: “My father (Ethan Becker) kept his cereals and breakfast meats separate — usually in the form of halved, pan-fried sausage links and fried cornmeal mush.”
These days, John Becker lives in Oregon but still has his Cincy favorites, like chili from Empress and Skyline, as well as ribs and thick chips from Montgomery Inn and “the impeccably roasted chicken” at Floyd’s, which serves Lebanese food near the University of Cincinnati.
Other Ohio favorites in “Joy” include buckeye candy, Cincinnati chili Cockaigne, Cincinnatistyle cheese Coney hot dog, Ohio farmhouse sausage chili and Ohio Shaker lemon pie.