Cincinnati Goetta Article Local History

June 2004
From: “Local Flavor: 10 Sweet and Savory Classics That Cincinnati Can Call Its Own,” by Mary Stagaman
Eckerlin’s Goetta
So what is goetta after all? Steel-cut oats, a little pork and beef, plenty of onion, and a smattering of seasoning. Cooked for hours, then cooled into a loaf shape, it gets sliced and fried for breakfast, and occasionally lunch and dinner too. It’s pretty simple, really, for something that’s endured generations of taste-testing. For goetta’s another legacy, along with May Festival and a taste for beer, from the Germans who settled Cincinnati.
Legacy is a word that comes to mind when I think of Eckerlin Meats, which makes the best goetta in town. Eckerlin’s has been in business at Findlay Market since the 1850s, and its recipe for goetta is well-tested; it’s more than 100 years old. A century ago, goetta was nothing but practical. It gave frugal butchers another way to use scraps of meat left at the end of the week, and in time, a Cincinnati tradition was born.
Now, it would take a whole lot of scraps to turn out the 300–500 pounds of goetta Eckerlin’s sells each week. Fourth generation owner Bob Lillis (Ernie Eckerlin, the founder, was his great-grandfather) makes the goetta himself every day in a Dutch oven behind the meat counter. Unlike those frugal butchers, Lillis starts with whole pork shoulder, about 85 percent lean. He spikes his mix with a proprietary blend of six spices and stirs it every 20 minutes or so for four hours. If you buy it today, it was probably made yesterday, so it’s not loaded with preservatives to keep it “fresh.” All in all, it’s still a winner after a century of competition.
And the legacy? Bob’s nephew Ryan has joined the family business, providing the same good-natured service Eckerlin’s is known for. Any day now, he may get his chance to make the goetta too