Going Dutch in Pennsylvania  

Express News Service

Food is full of misunderstandings. For example, Bombay Duck is a fish, not a bird. Gobi manchurian is not a desert although Gobi and Manchuria are geographically related; it was simply a perverse Chindian chef having a laugh. Lebanon bologna is neither Lebanese nor is it from the famous Italian epicurean city of Bologna: it is a sweet-and-sour cured salami made in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the US. Its colour is deep red. Any food connoisseur will tell you that genuine salami is never smoked, but is always air-dried naturally.

The disingenuously named sausage owes its origin to Dutch settlers who landed near present-day New York in 1624 and brought their food habits along. Being pioneers in a new continent with scant familiar resources, ‘waste not, want not’ became their motto: they ground and spiced the meat of old and useless livestock to make sausages.

The reason why Lebanon bologna has sweet accents is because, much like the Bengalis, the denizens of the Netherlands have a love affair with sugar. Identifying bona-fide Lebanese bologna is easy: it comes wrapped in muslin or as whole sausages, unlike the supermarket plastic-wrapped slices. 

Since Lebanon County has little else to boast about, its highlight is a ‘bologna drop’ held every New Year in its eponymous capital; a town of 1.3 lakh citizens, which is also a Republican stronghold. The bologna drop event is no Times Square New Year extravaganza, mind you, but a shimmering disco ball and a large, whole bologna sausage is lowered at the stroke of midnight.

It was invented in 1997, when listeners of a local radio station were asked for suggestions to celebrate Lebanon. One proposal was,

“On New Year’s Eve Harrisburg drops a strawberry, New York drops an Apple and York drops a rose. I think we should drop a bologna from the Colonial theatre in Lebanon.” On January 1, 1998, a 100-pound, 6-foot bologna was dropped to the cheers of a large crowd. The sausage is now donated to a local food bank for the poor. There is even a Lebanon bologna exhibition at Seltzer’s Smokehouse Meats, the largest producer of the sausage.

Gastronomes who are okay to explore the region could discover artisan bologna sausages at some local butcher shops if they’re in the right place. According to popular American writer Dean Koontz, “Love and sausage are alike. Can never have enough of either.” In Lebanon County, it comes in one package.

The reason why Lebanon bologna has sweet accents is because the denizens of the Netherlands have a love affair with sugar

<br /> Food is full of misunderstandings. For example, Bombay Duck is a fish, not a bird. Gobi manchurian is not a desert although Gobi and Manchuria are geographically related; it was simply a perverse Chindian chef having a laugh. Lebanon bologna is neither Lebanese nor is it from the famous Italian epicurean city of Bologna: it is a sweet-and-sour cured salami made in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the US. Its colour is deep red. Any food connoisseur will tell you that genuine salami is never smoked, but is always air-dried naturally.</p> <p>The disingenuously named sausage owes its origin to Dutch settlers who landed near present-day New York in 1624 and brought their food habits along. Being pioneers in a new continent with scant familiar resources, ‘waste not, want not’ became their motto: they ground and spiced the meat of old and useless livestock to make sausages.</p> <p>The reason why Lebanon bologna has sweet accents is because, much like the Bengalis, the denizens of the Netherlands have a love affair with sugar. Identifying bona-fide Lebanese bologna is easy: it comes wrapped in muslin or as whole sausages, unlike the supermarket plastic-wrapped slices. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.81 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.81 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Since Lebanon County has little else to boast about, its highlight is a ‘bologna drop’ held every New Year in its eponymous capital; a town of 1.3 lakh citizens, which is also a Republican stronghold. The bologna drop event is no Times Square New Year extravaganza, mind you, but a shimmering disco ball and a large, whole bologna sausage is lowered at the stroke of midnight.</p> <p>It was invented in 1997, when listeners of a local radio station were asked for suggestions to celebrate Lebanon. One proposal was,</p> <p>“On New Year’s Eve Harrisburg drops a strawberry, New York drops an Apple and York drops a rose. I think we should drop a bologna from the Colonial theatre in Lebanon.” On January 1, 1998, a 100-pound, 6-foot bologna was dropped to the cheers of a large crowd. The sausage is now donated to a local food bank for the poor. There is even a Lebanon bologna exhibition at Seltzer’s Smokehouse Meats, the largest producer of the sausage.</p> <!-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v. 2.0.81 --> <div class="quads-location quads-ad200503 " id="quads-ad200503" style="float:none;margin:0px 3px 3px 3px;padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;" data-lazydelay="0"> <!-- WP QUADS - Quick AdSense Reloaded v.2.0.81 Content AdSense async --> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block;" data-ad-format="auto" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7550963679842137" data-ad-slot="1823845571"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});</script> <!-- end WP QUADS --> </div> <p>Gastronomes who are okay to explore the region could discover artisan bologna sausages at some local butcher shops if they’re in the right place. According to popular American writer Dean Koontz, “Love and sausage are alike. Can never have enough of either.” In Lebanon County, it comes in one package.</p> <p>The reason why Lebanon bologna has sweet accents is because the denizens of the Netherlands have a love affair with sugar<br />