Ohio Cuisine: Recipes description

Ohio has many special foods and recipes. These were brought to the Buckeye state by settlers from many different countries, ethnic groups and religions. Did you know in the 19th century Cincinnati was known as "Porkopolis" because of it's famous hog industry?
Ohio's early culinary heritage
In all times and places, people cook what they know. Folks setting forth into the great Ohio wilderness brought recipes and cooking apparatus from home. Wagon trains en route required "camp" cookery reminiscent of soldiers and explorers (think: Lewis & Clark, Daniel Boone). Most of the folks relocating from the original 13 states were already familiar with "New World" ingredients and substitutions. "Old World" heritage still played a big role in food choices and combination. Germans, English, Pennsylvania Dutch, French modified America's bounty to satisfy homeland tastes.

"Ohio was settled by veterans of the Revolutionary War who were given land grants...The pioneers in Ohio experienced many of the same lifestyles as their forefathers when they settled the East Coast. Cooking was done in iron pots in the open hearth. Food was raised of hunted. The pioneer women baked once a week in the hearth oven. Cookies and bread were baked first, followed by cakes and pies...Almost every farm home had a bean separator, since beans were a major ingredient in the farm diet. This hand-made machine, which threshed...beans, could be operated by dog power...Other items of the early Ohio kitchens were sausage stuffers and a lard press...Many settlers brought their native customs and cuisines to Ohio. The transplanted New Englanders brought with them their recipes for baked beans and salt pork and molasses. Dumplings makde with sour milk, chicken potpie...Some of these early settlers used bread stuffings for pork and beef, mainly to stretch a meal...The Germans brought their love for sausages, sauerkraut, and hearty meat and potato meals. Czech immigrants brougth one of their favorite dishes--fish boiled with spices andserved with a black sauce of prunes, raisins, and almonds... No fruit was more imporant to pioneer life than the apple...John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, left a trail of apple orchards throughout Ohio...Many of the first permanent settlers of Ohio were Germans from Pennsylvania...Cincinnati was established after the War of 1812 and became an elegant metropolis. Oysters were the luxury food...In the mid-nineteenth century Cincinnati was the world's greatest pork-packing center, turning hogs from Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky into hams and sausages."
---Taste of the States, Hilde Gabriel Lee [Howell Press:Charlottesville VA] 1992 (p. 159-161)

Here you can find such recipes of Ohio Cuisine:

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Buckeye Balls II
Buckeyes I
Amish Meatloaf
Pecan Sour Cream Pound Cake
Sunday's Apple Pie
Buckeye Balls
Czech Roast Pork
Best City Chicken
Danish Pastry Apple Bars
The Sarge's Goetta - German Breakfast Treat
Buckeye Cookies III
Cincinnati Skyline Chili
Pork Chops in White Wine
Vinegar and Egg Crust
Grandma Sheets' Sugar Cookies
Potato Candy from Ohio
Tomato Juice Spaghetti Sauce
Ohio Meat Pie
Krispy Buckeyes
Easy Buckeye Bars
Ohio Tomato Pudding
Tweed Squares