Ghetta

Has anyone heard of "Ghetta"? My grandmother made it. It is Irish I think. It was similar to mush but was made with onions I believe pork chopped up and salt and pepper. After it became firm in the pan, it was sliced and fried. As a kid I thought it was great. (60 years ago) I have tried to experiment and make it but the results were terrible. I need more information.

Thanks

Slàinte,    

Patch    

Like a scrapple, kind of. What kind of meal did it have to bind it? Corn?

No! Wait! I found this on the web:

Steel-cut Oats are one of the main ingredients in an American dish named Goetta. This is pronounced getta, and is made and eaten primarily around the tri-state area where the States of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky touch borders. It is made by boiling steel-cut oats and pork (various cuts) together, allowing the mixture to cool, then slicing it and pan frying it. Not to be confused with Scrapple, which uses corn meal as a base for the Pork. Some variations add a little herbal seasoning -- rubbed sage and/or thyme, for example.

And this:

GOETTA FOR BREAKFAST

3 lb. piece pork
3 lb. piece beef
1 pkg. steel cut oatmeal
8 sm. onions
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
water to cover meat

Put beef and pork in large pot with onions, salt and pepper and water. Cook thoroughly until done. Take out all heavy ingredients. Add oatmeal to water in which meat and onions were cooked, adding more water if necessary. Cook and stir constantly until oatmeal absorb water and becomes thick. Put beef, pork and onions through food chopper. Mix thoroughly with oatmeal and pour into pans 2" deep. Place in refrigerator. When ready to serve cut in 1" slices and brown on both sides. Season to taste while frying.


This "package" of oatmeal is really the binder, it looks like -- I should think a pound of oatmeal would be more than enough, and the recipe is mostly meat so it does make a kind of meat scrapple or a case-less sausage. Probably would freeze fine as wrapped serving-size slices, since this recipe will make quite a lot.

The source said it was German in origin, but I wouldn't be surprised if they made it in Ireland too -- using oats really suggests Ireland and Scotland. There's a lot of back and forth of basic peasant foods in northern Europe. There are dishes from Normandy that resemble this too. Any way that poor folks can stretch a cheaper cut of meat to get maximum ballast for the pennies.

OK -- Shadows, my apologies for putting this here in the wrong thread -- please set up a new thread for it so Patch can have his breakfast?
Thank you very much.