Ingredients
- 1 pound lean pork
- 1 large onion
- 3 quarts water
- 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground sage
- 3 cups cornmeal
Directions
- Place pork pieces into large pan; add whole onion and water. Cook slowly, covered, for 2-1/2 hours; drain, reserve broth (about 3 quarts), and remove onion.
- Chill meat and remove fat; separate meat from bones. Chop meat.
- In kettle, place meat with 2 quarts of reserved broth. Add salt, pepper and sage; bring to a boil.
- Combine cornmeal with remaining 1 quart reserved broth and stir into boiling mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Cover and cook over very low heat; stir again after 20 minutes.
- Pour into two 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pans. Cool and chill overnight. Cut into slices, coat with flour if desired, and brown in butter or bacon fat. Serve hot with eggs for a hearty breakfast.
Maddie Stace, Dallesport, Washington, writes, “My dad made a dish when I was in school. He called it ‘Paun Hoss’ (not sure of the spelling). It was cooked hot cereal with chopped meat added, poured in a pan, and then set up. We sliced it and fried it in a pan, then ate it with syrup poured over it.” Her father’s parents were from Ohio and Pennsylvania.
A variety of spellings accompany this traditional Pennsylvania Dutch (German) recipe, which is also known as scrapple. It can be spelled pon haus, pannhaas, panhoss, pannhas or ponhaws, depending on region. For another recipe, see Kitchen Gems: Vintage Cookbooks.
Judy DeRose, Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, writes, “Pon haus is scrapple. A German (Pennsylvania Dutch) breakfast delicacy, we always made it when we butchered hogs. It consisted of cooked pork scraps not used otherwise, spices and herbs, and cornmeal. This was cooked together, put in loaf pans and kept refrigerated or frozen. To serve, you sliced the loaf and pan-fried it, generally for breakfast with eggs. I found this recipe on the Internet that is very close to the recipe we followed (although the family recipe is now lost, this is close to what I remember making, although we did not use cloves).
“You can buy scrapple (pon haus) in many of the farmers’ markets in Pennsylvania – Lancaster and Philadelphia particularly.”
Pawnhass Scrapple Recipe
Cook several pieces of spareribs or other pork until done, then cut meat up fine and reserve broth.
Take 3 quarts of broth and bring meat and broth to a boil.
Into it, dribble 3 cups cornmeal that has been moistened with some water, stirring constantly until mixture has mushy consistency. Cook slowly for 1 hour.
Add 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
Pour into 9-by-3-by-5-inch loaf pans and cool.
Slice and fry when cold. Serve with jelly, jam or syrup (or eat plain).
MAIN ARTICLE:
GRIT Recipe Box: January/February 2012
Dawn Groszkruger, Dumont, Iowa, sends a recipe for Maddie called Pawnhass or Scrapple. “My grandmother was proud of this dish, and I’m sure it fed her large, hungry family during hard times,” Dawn says.
