Why do we eat what we eat? Sure our taste buds tell us when something tastes bad. But where do our food customs originate? How and why did we connect certain foods as ‘goes-well-together’, while we didn’t mix others? How did the recipes evolve over the last 200 or more years to the items we find in restaurants and in homes today? Dann Woellert, Food Etymologist, eats and researches how our food came to be what it is. Starting with hometown comfort food favorites from his Midwestern Cincinnati, he uncovers the past and explains why good goetta has allspice or why lasagna has only four layers. Journey with Dann to the roots of our favorite dishes.
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dannwoellertthefoodetymologist 
If you ever find yourself at Wagner’s in Minster Ohio again ask for Steve at the meat counter. He’s my uncle and the town butcher. He used to own his own small grocery store in town before Wagner’s bought him out.
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Dan…my name is Antonia Davena and I am on the Sunday Salon Committee for Women Helping Women. The salons feature a speaker in a local Cincinnati home with 25-35 people in attendance. I would love to speak to you in person about you being one of our featured speakers.
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Hi. Cinti native here living in LA. I really miss brats and metts on the grill and have been searching locally for them. We have a great German butcher – Alpine Village – nearby. I figured out his weisswurst is basically what I know as bratwurst. But I spoke to the butcher about metts and no luck. Any suggestions on how to describe metts – or what he might know them as? I saw thurlinger sp? Sausage might be close, but looking at it described on Wikipedia, it didn’t seem familiar.
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Hi Dann,
My name is Mark. I’m doing some research into the history of the Texas Weiner and the proliferation of Greek chili sauce across the country in the 1920s. My investigations have naturally led me to you and your writings about the history of Cincinnati chili. I’ve just ordered you book! Wondering if you could reach out for a conversation about the topic when you have a free moment.
Sincerely,
Mark NP
“I Never Sausage a Weiner”
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Hey Mark feel free to email me at geschenke@aol.com and we can set up a time to talk – great that you’re researching greek chili sauce! Dann
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Hey, I’m from Mercer county Ohio I really miss grits from all the local butcher shops and grocery stores back home. Now I live in Arkansas and occasionally make my own grits unfortunately I have to substitute polenta for corn mush another breakfast favorite. I enjoy writing, thanks!
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Hi Dan,
My name is Lauren Christakos, the granddaughter of the late Jim and Athena Christakos, previous owners of Arnold’s. I just found your wonderful article about my family and would appreciate a few minutes of your time to ask you few questions.
Thanks for considering!
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Hi Lauren you can reply to this with your questions – no one sees this as public until I approve – glad you found the blog about your family! Dann
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Hi Dann,
Here are my questions.
What made you choose the Greek spaghetti at Arnold’s as a topic?
Who did you interview about the family history?
How did you connect the family connection of Skyline and Arnold’s?
My grandmother (or yia yia) made a different version of this recipe at home. How were you able to prove that recipe came from my family?
Again, I really appreciate the article. My father (Jim and Athena’s son) died in October leaving a huge hole in our family history. I know he always felt that his parents were omitted from Arnold’s history and would have enjoyed the article as much as I have.
Lauren
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Hello Dann,
Please keep this private as you mentioned above to Lauren.
I just ordered your book on Cincinnati Chili. Should be a fun read since we all love Cincinnati Chili.
Also:
I found your article on the history of Woeber Mustard online from 2015 and thought it was very good. My grandfather was Carl Woeber and I have been doing some genealogy research on the family. I was wondering where you found the history of my ancestors going back to the 1800s. You mentioned they were blacksmiths by trade before coming to America. Also, I was trying to find out where the Senior Aloysius was buried. I have looked at cemeteries in Davenport but can only find his son Amandus and family. Anyway, any tips or information you can share would be greatly appreciated. You did a wonderful job of including all the family. One of the Woeber streetcars is restored and displayed at the Aurora History Museum (Colorado) about 10 miles from Denver. Woeber Carriage also built a Horse drawn Tourist attraction horsecar the Cherrelyn which is restored and on display at the Englewood Civic Center (Colorado) about 7 miles from Denver.
Best,
Ann Woeber Kenney
Awkenney@hotmail.com
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Ancestry.com has everything
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Hello! I love your blog… lots of interesting food tidbits to boggle the mind. I came across it rather accidentally…. but for which I thank you.
Growing up, I remember annual assemblies of my German family in Wisconsin to make large amounts of “German Grits”. No one I spoke to about it in later years had ever heard of such a thing. Doing a Google search brought up Goetta…. but it’s U.S. origins did not match my family’s region (Midwest… mainly Wisconsin). Your blog not only solves the riddle by mentioning “Gritzwurst”, but the specific area in Germany (Lippe-Detmold) where my ancestors immigrated from. I am surprised that it was a widespread tradition… I always thought it was just a family recipe.
I look forward to looking through the rest of your blog entries and expanding my mind a bit more. 🙂
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Hi, Dan. I was researching the Streitmann Biscuit Company because my father worked for one of their distributing divisions in Richmond, VA. He was a delivery driver and delivered around town and out of town as well. I can’t find anything about the Richmond business but thought I would see if you had any information on any of their Streitmann distributors in other cities on the East Coast, particularly the one in Richmond. I remember the Zesta Saltines but not many of the other items.
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Hi Dan. My birth name was Charles Christopher Leininger III (subsequently changed after Junior was killed in an accident and my mother remarried. I am actually four generations removed from Charles C. Leininger, who you mention in “Cincinnati Candy” as owning the Opera House restaurant and Confectionery. I was just wondering if you any additional info about the establishment. I appreciate any thoughts that you may have.
Chris Atkins
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Hi Charles – unfortunately I dont have any more info on your ancestor than what’s in the book
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Okay, thanks anyway.
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Hi Dann…came across your page by accident. My grandmother was a Woellert. I believe we are distant relatives. Love reading your posts and gleaning information about the Woellerts.
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Dann…I’m a 90 year old male Chili champ in SW Florida. Our British car club had a. Hili cook off in Feb. My Cincy style effort was the winner. I’m a NKy native and grew up with Skyline and Empress. Your book brought back a lot of fond memories. Thank you for that.
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Where is the best bar, restaurant to have egg nog in Cincinnati, Like club 21 in NYC?
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I would say Adesso in Mason – theyre the only ones I know of who make their own boozy eggnog
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Hey Dann! Just ordered the book while looking for some recipe variations this past weekend! I’ll be giving this book to MY kids after reading. They LOVE this stuff! GO GUDDA!
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Pingback: Does Cincinnati chili contain chocolate? Nope, says this expert – Simply Commodities
Hi, Dann
I just discovered your articles on Meinrad and Fridolin Kleiner. I have a particular interest in them because they were half-brothers of my great-grandfather, Ludwig (Louis) Rauch. Louis’ mother was Barbara Kleiner, mother of the brewing brothers. She married Louis’ father after her first husband, Joseph Kleiner died. The Rauch family followed the brothers to Cincinnati in 1855 (about the time Louis was of draft age). He eventually opened a bakery and grocery at Elm and McMicken, across from the Jackson Brewery, and lived above the store.
Your articles were chock full of new info for me, especially the brothers’ early history in Baden. Can you please share some of your sources for that info? I’d like to learn more. You mention that Meinrad was intended by his father to run a hotel in Veringendorf, his hometown. I think my great-great-grandfather ended up running that hotel, after he married Meinrad’s mother.
Thanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Also, you have a lot of great content here! I need to spend sometime with your other writings…..
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Hi Dann. I talked to you at Lloyd Library after your Hot Sauce presentation. We got to talking about native grapes. There are a bunch on Blair Avenue where it meets Gilbert Ave in Walnut Hills. Small and seedy but good flavor if you can collect enough for juice or wine.
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