It is rare to find hanky pankies served in a restaurant, but go to a casual party in a home on the west side of Cincinnati and you very likely will be served them, always to be eaten in multiples. We are talking here about extremely humble food: a thimble’s worth of seasoned sausage or sometimes ground beef with melted Velveeta atop a little tile of party rye. Goetta may be substituted for beef or sausage, and while it would be possible to use some other cheese, every hanky panky cook we know considers the smooth, melty texture of Velveeta just right for the dish.
How or why they got their goofy name remains a mystery, and in fact, not all who eat them call them that. We were chatting with a native Cincinnatian who knows quite a bit about local food, and yet he was puzzled when we brought up hanky pankies. But as we described them, we could see a light bulb illuminate above his head. “Ah, yes!” he said. “You mean what-you-eat-when-you-are-watching-football-on-Sunday! I didn’t know they had a name.” They also sometimes get the all-purpose sobriquet for any mess of food on toast, S.O.S.