Gumbis

Gumbis (“GOOM-biss”) is a dialect corruption of the Latin word compositum, the past participle of the verb componere, which has several root meanings.5 One of these is “to put together,” as in the act of creating something out of small parts. Thus, in culinary terms, composita are “compositions” assembled from layered ingredients. This is the meaning of Gumbis as it is understood in most Swiss dialects and is also the meaning in Pennsylfaanisch.6 Any baked deep-dish casserole made with layered ingredients fits the definition of a Pennsylvania Dutch Gumbis.