Looks like crap. Sounds like crap. Tastes like, well, Goetta.

I guess the best way to describe it is: a mildly spiced, case-less breakfast sausage. I’ve never seen it anywhere else in the country but Cincinnati. According to Glier’s Goetta web site,

Goetta was created in Greater Cincinnati’s German immigrant community in the late1800′s. It is a delicious blend of pork, beef, and whole grain, steel cut oats. Goetta is traditionally prepared like sausage patties but many people prefer the taste of Goetta.

Wikipedia adds: “Goetta was originally a peasant dish, meant to stretch out servings of meat over several meals to conserve money.” So it makes sense that Mom used to feed it to me when we’d visit her relatives in Cincy. She served it crispy, atop buttered white bread. Since it uses steel-cut oats, it has a creamy texture — like mixing meat in your left-over porridge.

I was able to prepare some this morning for breakfast because my mom brought me a supply from her last visit to Cincinnati. I put a fresh egg on top, and I used toasted sourdough bread for the base.

Damn tasty. Since you probably can’t buy Goetta locally, you might try one of these recipes. Don’t be put-off by my inept descriptions — it really is good.