Universal recipes of Anabaptists?

[MaxPC]

This is requested by the women in my family. They are interested in learning of the traditional and universally made recipes of Anabaptists. Recipes are requested or simply named so that they can look them up on the internet.

My stomach thanks you as do the stomachs of all good men.

[steve-in-kville]

The only one I don't see getting clicked a lot is the vegetarian option. Unless they are progressive when it comes to health, or have an actual *real* food allergy, I don't see the vegan/vegetarian movement going over well.

[steve-in-kville]

You left out fish & seafood, perhaps intentionally?

[Grace]

Where is the potato option, specifically mashed potatoes, drizzled with brown butter.

[steve-in-kville]

Noodles and brown butter is huge. Many a wedding we attended had that with meatloaf and a cooked veggie on the side.

[ohio jones]

Ugali and tamales (to name a couple of representative examples from the broader Anabaptist universe) are also conspicuously absent.

[barnhart]

I agree with OJ, this will vary by region. My wife's Pennsylvania family eat differently than my Georgia family.

[Ken]

In my experience the Swiss Mennonite (Pennsylvania Dutch) and the Russian Mennonite (Kansas & Canada) have somewhat different food traditions. I learned about zwieback, for example, working on a Russian Menno combining crew in college and had never heard of it before. And there are Pennsylvania Dutch foods that the Russian Mennos don't really do.

Universal in my experience?

Lots of homemade baked goods (homemade breads, dinner rolls, sweet rolls, and pies
Lots of simple home-grown garden vegetables (corn, string beans, peas, carrots, beets, turnips, cabbage)
Lots of home canned foods (applesauce, pickles, canned fruits, jams and preserves)
Simple meat dishes like country ham, roasts, fried chicken, fried liver, etc. But not so much steaks for some reason.
Ethnic German foods like sauerkraut, strudel, Spätzle, and lots of boiled and mashed potatoes.

Growing up I remember homemade bread and butter served with most meals
Boiled potatoes, mashed potatoes, string beans, and corn as most common side dishes
Cole slaw, cucumber salad, and green bean salad
Lots of roasts, country ham, and fried or baked chicken.

[steve-in-kville]

Where does liver & onions originate from? Seems most of our buffets around here have it.

[Ken]

Where does liver & onions originate from? Seems most of our buffets around here have it.

Liver and Onions is actually more of a traditional English dish. Onions are acidic and cut the metallic taste of the liver so the two are a complimentary blend. I think it became sort of a universal American depression-era dish from a time that most other cuts of meat were beyond the budget of many Americans, but has faded in popularity as beef has become cheaper and more available. But you still find it frequently offered in traditional diners and restaurants, especially in the Midwest and south. My mother served it because she believed that liver was an important source of iron.