Betty Groff

Elizabeth "Betty" R. Groff (née Herr, September 14, 1935 – November 8, 2015) was an American celebrity chef, cookbook author, and authority on Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine. Groff authored six cookbooks focusing on Pennsylvania Dutch foods, including Good Earth and Country Cooking, which Time magazine called "one of the top five regional cookbooks introduced in 1981." In 2015, The Patriot-News further praised her contributions to regional food traditions, writing "Groff was to Pennsylvania Dutch food what the late chef Paul Prudhomme was to Cajun cooking."Groff was born in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, to Clarence N. and Bertha K. Root Herr. She was a 10th generation Pennsylvania Mennonite and a direct descendant of Hans Herr. She married her husband, Abram B. Groff, on November 12, 1955.In November 2014, The New York Times selected Groff's recipe for glazed bacon to represent Pennsylvania in a survey of Thanksgiving foods from all 50 U.S. states.Betty Groff died on November 8, 2015, at the age of 80.