A Collection of Old Fashion Mennonite Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What are traditional Mennonite foods? ›

Here you'll find Pennsylvania Dutch classics like shoofly pie and apple butter, plus some lesser known favorites like baked oatmeal and creamy macaroni salad. And since the Amish and Mennonites both have roots in Germany and across Eastern Europe, we've also included recipes for borscht, kielbasa, and cabbage.

Generally speaking, Mennonites typically eat more fruits and vegetables than the average person. There is no 'typical' diet for Mennonites, and their diets vary depending where they live. Mennonites may eat pasta, rice, and some local foods.

The earliest known written recipes date to 1730 BC and were recorded on cuneiform tablets found in Mesopotamia. Other early written recipes date from approximately 1600 BC and come from an Akkadian tablet from southern Babylonia. There are also works in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depicting the preparation of food.

The Holdeman Mennonites do not believe that the use of modern technology is a sin in itself, but they discourage too intensive a use of the Internet and avoid television, cameras and radio. The group had 24,400 baptized members in 2013.

They also enjoyed non-alcoholic drinks such as peppermint water and garden tea for refreshment on hot summer days. As the Evangelical movement grew, strict temperance became the dominant view, especially among Mennonites and Brethren.

Mennonites love coffee. Mennonites live on coffee, just like right-thinking Americans everywhere.

During the last 100 years, the church considered the consumption of alcohol to be a sin. But that “marker” is passing away. While a large majority of us—probably 75 percent by now—accepts some use, we honor those for whom the consumption of alcohol continues to be “always wrong.”

By the 18th and early 19th centuries, there were quite a number of distilleries and brewers of beer among the Mennonites of North America, as well. The idea of Mennonites being teetotalers is a more recent phenomenon, the result of temperance and fundamentalist movements in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Nettle pudding dates back to 6000 BCE in Britain and is considered the oldest known recipe in the world. It is a very thick, light mousse-like dessert made from nettles, milk, and eggs. In the 18th century, nettle pudding was a staple of the English diet.

What are some of the oldest recipes? ›

A recent study found what could be the earliest known evidence of ancient cooking: the leftovers of a fish dinner from 780,000 years ago. Cooking helped change our ancestors. It helped fuel our evolution and gave us bigger brains.

Basic beliefs of Mennonites are based on Jesus Christ's teachings in the Sermon on the Mount as well as the Anabaptist Confession of Schleitheim. These basic beliefs include strict pacifism, shunning oaths, adult baptisms, foot washing, church discipline (excommunication), and separation from world, among others.

Shoofly pie is a traditional sweet breakfast dish in Amish communities. It's made from molasses combined with water, baking soda, and flour poured into a pie shell and topped with a layer of crumb comprising flour, butter, sugar, and spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.