Dutch Obliged.

Now more than ever, Pennsylvania Dutch flavors are finding a home on restaurant menus.

Photos by Mark Stehle

Inspired by the delicious heaps of food the Amish and Mennonites have piled onto plates for centuries, many Philadelphia restaurants and bars have begun combing through Pennsylvania Dutch culinary traditions for their menus, working off the idea that Lancaster County-crafted cooking is worth a new look.

"It's a modern challenge to lighten up the stick-to-your-ribs food of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine," says Daniel Stern, chef/owner of West Philly restaurant MidAtlantic, of this hyper-specific strain of cuisine influenced by the cooking and eating habits of German immigrants to the commonwealth. "It has a very odd stereotype of being bland, but it's soul food with a lot of tradition. It's really something to be celebrated."

We couldn't agree more. From pig parts to pickles, fried dough to fritters, more and more eateries are serving PA Dutch dishes in ways both old-school and unexpected. Here are just a few.

Scrapple, seriously

PA Dutch cuisine's poster child is the well-crisped mush known as scrapple. Resourcefully relying upon the "nasty bits" of an oinker, it consists of mashed layers of organs, scraps and trimmings whisked with cornmeal and flour to produce a semi-solid congealed loaf that's addictive when pan- or griddle-crisped.

Stern's MidAtlantic (3711 Market St., 215-386-3711) uses scrapple as a canvas. They cobble together bases like crab, chicken and fermented mushrooms, blended with kasha and buckwheat, for several upscale renditions that sing along with sweet pepper relish and roasted beets.

Marshall Green of Café Estelle (444 N. Fourth St., 215-925-5080) crafts a highly regarded rendition of the crunch-coated slab, composed of portions of whole pigs from D'Artagnan that he cures himself.

Green Eggs Café (1306 Dickinson St., 215-226-3447) whips up stone-ground grits topped with deep-fried chunks of Folcroft-based Habbersett's scrapple, while Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse (111 S. 17th St., 215-563-4810) scrambles crisp bits within risotto. At The Wishing Well (767 S. Ninth St., 215-238-6555), chef Carmen Cappello sticks big ol' hunks of the stuff, accompanying a fried egg and cheese, on top of his SHAME Burger, available in both full-size and slider format.

Oyster House (1516 Sansom St., 215-567-7683) and Silk City (435 Spring Garden St., 215-592-8838) take nontraditional approaches to scrapple. Oyster House works its namesake bivalve into a rendition seasoned with cayenne pepper and toasted fennel seed; Silk City's foie gras scrapple has an extra-crispy exterior housing a combo of housemade smoked sausage and delicate diced liver.

Marvelous pig parts

A plate piled with pig is a common sight at any Dutchy dinner table, but there are a handful of pork preparations you won't find anywhere else. For starters you've got hog maw, the salty lining of a pig's stomach packed with sausage, cubed potato and ingredients like onion or cabbage. Although not a widespread delicacy, its intense flavor appeals to Asian eateries and supermarkets — you can find it at Good Taste Asian Cuisine (220 N 10th St., 215-627-5898) and 1st Oriental Supermarket (1111 S. Sixth St., 215-271-2528).

GiGi (319 Market St., 215-574-8880) does a gutsy, porktastic sandwich: The Old City Bang baguette is flooded with Taylor pork roll, scrapple, chorizo, bacon, American cheese and a fried egg topped with tangy Dijon aioli.

Audrey Claire (276 S. 20th St., 215-731-1222) pays homage to the PA heartland with a delicate brined maple pork chop served with wild boar bacon and sauced (in yet another Dutch touch) with a simple, sophisticated Gorgonzola-Granny Smith apple butter. Walter Staib of City Tavern (138 S. Second St., 215-413-1443) celebrates the Dutch porcine craft in a traditional manner, serving an applewood-smoked and salt-cured pork chop that comes with cozy sides like sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and Dijon mustard.

At Supper (926 South St., 215-592-8180), Mitch Prensky veers away from chops, opting instead to do a hand-crafted PA Dutch-like hot dog. The chef/owner wraps a house-made pork shoulder wiener in bacon, deep-fries it and dresses the frank with kraut, barbecued onions and beer mustard on a homemade bun.

In a pickle

The PA Dutch are well-known for pickling, a necessary method for sustaining a family's hard-achieved farm stock through the winter. There's quite a variety, from dill pickle spears and sliced garden-friendly blends like chow-chow and pepper cabbage to red beets and pickled eggs.

The iconic image of a wide-mouthed pickle jar is twisted loose at MidAtlantic, where Stern serves a sweet-sour mix of house-brined veggies like cukes, 'shrooms and turnips straight out of the vessel.

R. Evan Turney of Varga Bar (941 Spruce St., 215-627-5200) does a sultry array of sours, pickling peppers, cucumber, onions, capers and red beets, while at Jose Garces' Village Whiskey (118 S. 20th St., 215-665-1088), gush-worthy glass-jar munchables include truffled lemon artichokes and cippollini onions with white anchovies.

On chef Anne Coll's Asian-influenced menu at Meritage (500 S. 20th St., 215-985-1922) appears a punchy, small-plated pickled patch of carrots, cauliflower, daikon radishes, onions and okra.

Resurrection Ale House (2425 Grays Ferry Ave., 215-735-2202) pays homage to the tradition with a rotating pickle selection that's featured pleasures like mini Japanese pumpkins (kobochas) and bread-and-butter cucumbers.

Apple store

Making use of the lush farmlands of Lancaster County for more than 300 years, the Pennsylvania Dutch's fruit harvest has always been a feat — and the star of the show is the apple. They are served in its many forms — and are, of course, best adored when deep-fried.

Silver Spoon Bistro (3572 Indian Queen Lane, 215-438-4300) coats sweet slices in doughy cinnamon sugar disks and sides the browned rounds with a dose of Gorgonzola dipping sauce.

Square 1682  (Hotel Palomar, 121 S. 17th St., 215-563-5008) pumped fresh cider into cornmeal small cakes for a recent dessert, plopping a crown of Madagascar vanilla bean ice cream drizzled with apple cider caramel on top.

Reminiscent of the starchy delights of family smorgasbord meals, the brioche French toast served for brunch at Fork (306 Market St., 215-625-9425) comes smeared with an eye-popping local apple compote and splashes of Lancaster County-made maple syrup.

Chef Greg Ling at New American bistro Paul (1120 Pine St., 215-238-0210) prepares a golden-crusted heirloom apple dumpling served with light farmhouse cream.

And although Dutch Eating Place (12th and Arch streets, 215-922-0425) is a standby at the Reading Terminal Market, we'd be remiss if we didn't cite their toasty baked apple dumpling as the flawless standard fancier preparations will always attempt to emulate.

Dough, deep-fried and otherwise

Frugal as they may be, the PA Dutch love them some dough. With their fatty, lard-fried fasnachts (artery-killing doughnuts traditionally served the Tuesday before Lent) and other creations, they do this carbo-loaded category right.

The classic funnel cake, topped with house-churned vanilla bean ice cream and fresh strawberry sauce at Derek's (4411 Main St., 215-483-9400), is a sure sign you've died and gone to Dutch heaven. But don't embrace the afterlife just yet — wait until after you've buried your teeth into the sugary brunch bite of sticky bun French toast with maple berry jam at South Philadelphia Tap Room (1509 Mifflin St., 215-271-7787). At 10 Arts (Ritz-Carlton, 10 S. Broad St., 215-523-8273), chef Jennifer Carroll does warm puffed pretzel nuggets glazed with delicate brown butter and seasoned with Maldon salt. These pillowed mini-pockets are available with dips, including triple cheese fondue, jalapeño jam and Dijon mustard.

MidAtlantic's Stern gives full credit to his pastry chef, Peter Scarola, for coming up with the restaurant's root beer sticky buns. "We were testing out recipes for sticky buns one day," he says, "and the whole place had a crazy smell of root beer. We knew then that the two tastes together were a keeper." Café Estelle, meanwhile, has a permanent crowd-pleaser with their sticky buns, featuring a warm, gooey cream cheese schmear atop pinch-perfect dough doused with brown sugar and walnuts.

(editorial@citypaper.net)

Also In Dish