It’s hard to possess a culinary vocabulary wide or adept enough to fully explain the strange and wonderful delight that is Cincinnati’s signature breakfast meat, goetta. The first thing you should know is that it’s pronounced “get-uh,” not “go-etta.” It’s comparable to sausage or perhaps a crumbly meatloaf — or, if you’re from Pennsylvania, scrapple. And it’s made of ground pork, steel-cut or chopped oats and various spices. It combines savory, sweet and earthy flavors together into the best meat patty this side of the Mississippi.
You generally see it on menus lightly pan-fried in oil or bacon drippings (drool), which lends the outside of the patty a delicate crunch that gives way to a creamy, meaty center with a rustic, textural element thanks to the oats. Cincinnati’s large German immigrant population invented goetta in the late 19th century as a way to stretch a serving of meat into several meals — add oats to meat and it makes more meat. We in the Queen City love goetta so much we even have multiple food festivals devoted to goetta every summer — various goettafests with goetta pizzas, goetta fudge, goetta chili and any other possible goetta iteration.
If you’re averse to the concept of amalgamated meat products and offal, relax: Goetta isn’t like your regular old frankfurter or Spam, filled with weird pig parts and lord knows what else. In fact, local Glier’s Goetta, which was founded in 1946 and produces more than a million pounds of the stuff a year, is almost artisanal by meat-packing standards: The pork, oats and spices are combined by hand in 180-pound vats with large wooden paddles the company has custom-made for exactly this purpose.
You can pick up a package of Glier’s at any grocery store in the area, but since you’ll be spending all weekend drinking and watching baseball (and in a hotel), we picked out the best the city has to offer goetta-wise, so you can let others do the work for you (pan-frying goetta really is its own art form). Go forth and goetta. 21c Breakfast, Metropole at 21c: At the hip restaurant inside the 21c Museum Hotel — a luxury boutique hotel/contemporary art museum — all dishes receive at least some time in the restaurant’s custom wood-burning fireplace. Their namesake breakfast elevates goetta with the addition of charred tomatoes, roasted potatoes and two eggs any style. Turn goetta into velvet with the addition of a broken egg yolk. 609 Walnut St., Downtown, 513-578-6600, metropoleonwalnut.com.
Dressed Hanky Pankys, The Rookwood: Goetta and béchamel, served as a starter on top of everything-bagel chips with a side of giardiniera (another Midwestern culinary specialty). Spicy and rich and crunchy and just yes. 1077 Celestial St., Mount Adams, 421-5555, therookwood.com.
Goetta Reuben, Izzy’s: Russian-Jewish immigrant Izzy Kadetz opened the first kosher-style deli west of the Alleghenies in Cincinnati in 1901. Famous for having the “world’s greatest Reubens,” Kadetz’s legacy lives on in this local, family-run deli. Unlike the corned beef featured on Izzy’s Reuben, the Goetta Reuben features Glier’s goetta, sauerkraut, melted Swiss cheese and Izzy’s special dressing on rye. 800 Elm St., Downtown, 513-721-4241; 610 Main St., Downtown, 513-241-6245; izzys.com.
OTR Club Sandwich, Urban Grill Food Truck: Because you can have your cake and eat it too, this take on goetta adds applewood-smoked bacon and a fried egg on top of crispy, grilled Queen City Sausage goetta, topped with tomato and Cajun mayo on a brioche bun. For locations: urbangrillfoodtruck.com; facebook.com/urbangrillcincy; @urbangrillcincy.
Vegan goetta, Park + Vine: Over-the-Rhine’s green general store has an in-house vegan lunch/brunch counter, open until at least 2 p.m. daily. Try the GLTI — vegan goetta, lettuce, roasted tomatoes and vegenaise on ciabatta. 1202 Main St., Over-the-Rhine, 513-721-7275, parkandvine.com.
This article appears in Jul 8-14, 2015.