Scrapple: The name doesn’t do it justice

BY MATTHEW BOLICH Sentinel

Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted from the 2019 Favorite Foods of the Juniata Valley magazine published by The Sentinel. Scrapple is often fondly remembered as a special breakfast treat by many Pennsylvanians, so the inclusion of this article is fitting in a food nostalgia publication.

Amy Strauss has tried over 100 variations of scrapple, so she definitely has some opinions on one of our state’s quintessential Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast staples. Strauss tasted whitefish scrapple and even had a vegan mushroom-based version while researching her 2017 book, Pennsylvania Scrapple: A Delectable History.

For many Pennsylvania residents, the sound and smell of slabs of scrapple sizzling, evokes childhood memories of family breakfasts, pig butcherings or hunting camp mornings. Strauss, a Boyertown native, who likes to say she was raised “110% Pennsylvania Dutch”, has those fond remembrances of her father making scrapple from scratch.

fuzzy feelings about this porky breakfast meat. The mere mention of scrapple can elicit looks of disgust and fright, so what exactly is scrapple? And why does it cause such polar-opposite reactions?

Scrapple is basically pork trimmings that are stewed until tender, then ground up or finely chopped and then blended together with the original broth, as well as cornmeal and some other flour, such as buckwheat. It’s then formed into slabs that can be stored or frozen, and then cut into slices and pan-fried. Some families have long-held recipes, but scrapple can also be purchased commercially at any grocery store in the same section where bacon and sausage is sold.

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Not everyone has warm,

According to Strauss, the first recipes for scrapple date back to the 1680’s and the food helped sustain early German settlers here in Pennsylvania through the harsh winters. Strauss calls Pennsylvania scrapple “the marriage of German sausage-making with the Pennsylvania crop of corn.” She hypothesizes that scrapple probably wouldn’t have had a Keystone state connection if the soil here wasn’t so conducive for growing adding small amounts of water (if needed) to make a workable dough that is dry and stiff. Roll it 1/2” thick and cut into 1/2” squares Place on cookie and bake until hard, about 40 minutes. corn, and therefore an abundance of corn meal that could be mixed with meat.

You can use any cookie cutter for fun shapes!

You can also dip in carob for an iced cookie that’s pet friendly!

Strauss admits that she gets strong positive and negative reactions to the iconic breakfast meat at the various speaking events she has gone to statewide while promoting her book. “It does have the word ‘crap’ in the name,” she laughingly notes, and wonders if a name change would help. Others imagine that things like the eyeballs and brains of the pig are in it, even if that’s not really true today. And the fact that scrapple’s appearance is that of a grayish/brown block probably doesn’t help its cause.

Nonetheless, scrapple’s fandom seems to be increasing, in part due to the “nose-to-tail” food movement of recent years. Many high-end chefs are introducing scrapple into their menus in places like Philadelphia, where Strauss sampled deepfried scrapple balls with a hot pepper jelly, describing the dish as “so good.”

Whether scrapple is eaten fried crispy with nothing on it, smothered in ketchup or syrup, or on a breakfast sandwich with egg, it seems that scrapple has a passionate following even though it’s in the same basic format it was centuries prior. There are even regional festivals in Pennsylvania and Del- aware dedicated to the breakfast meat. Strauss thinks we should appreciate the scrapple’s heritage, opining that some of us potentially “wouldn’t even be here” if scrapple hadn’t helped our ancestors through brutal times in early colonial life. And Strauss muses when thinking about its detractor’s refusal to even try it, that scrapple “really is just delicious, crispy pork with a creamy interior, and what’s not to love about that!”

Buckwheat Scrapple recipe, as reprinted from PennsylvaniaDutchCookbook:FineOldRecipes

Prepare meat as for Scrapple (Ponhaws), us- ing one-half hog’s head, the liver, heart and sweetbreads. When cooked, chop finely and weigh the meat. For every 3 lbs. of meat, use 2 lbs. of meal (2 parts yellow corn meal and 1 part buckwheat flou 8r), 2 teaspoons salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground sage and 1 teaspoon ground mace. Cook slowly over low heat about 1 hr. Pour into pan and cool. Cover and store in refrigerator. To serve, cut into slices and fry in hot fat until golden brown.

RecommendedReading: Pennsylvania Scrapple: A Delectable History, by Amy Strauss, published by Arcadia Publishing and available on Amazon.com and other book sites.