Scrapple.....

[poltr1]

Another installment in the ongoing series of "Jim samples new foods".

Well, I tried scrapple a few months ago. (Yes, I'm catching up on entries.) I found a package of Jones Farm scrapple right next to the goetta, which I sampled and reported on a few months ago.

Supposedly, scrapple originated in the Pennsylvania Dutch country over 200 years ago. It's made of pork parts (pieces parts), finely ground, mixed in with corn meal. It was a favorite food of George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.

A few years ago, one of the talk show hosts in Philadelphia -- Kent Voss, who used to work at WHIO-AM in Dayton -- had the idea for a scrapple festival. Scrapplefest lasted a few years. As far as I know, it is no longer happening.

So, I tried it, over several weekends. It has a very mushy texture, as if everything in it was ground to a powder. I guess it wouldn't be bad if I didn't have any teeth.

Bottom line: Do I like it? No, not really. I think I'll stick to goetta and sausage.

Some links on scrapple:
A page from globalgourmet.com
A page from Habbersett Scrapple Co.

Comments

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I went to school near Philly, so I got exposed to scrapple fairly early. I never worked up the nerve to eat the stuff. Scrapple is what's left over of the pig after they're done making sausage.

[poltr1]

Scrapple. Made from the wurst stuff on earth. (grin, duck & run)

[trektone.livejournal.com]

It's funny you posted about scrapple. Dennis, my boyfriend 2001, is from Philly, and at the time had been living in Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, for a few years. He talked about his love of scrapple when we were getting to know each other. I took him to a restaurant in Berkeley that I knew had it on the menu. He said the texture was correct, but didn't taste exactly right though it was good. When he asked, we were told it was made from pork shoulder rather than from parts. Guess better ingredients doesn't make it authentic.

[trektone.livejournal.com]

Oh, and the scrapple conversation was fresh in my mind because he and talked about it when he was staying with me last week during MacWorld.

[billroper]

When we went to the Baltimore Worldcon back in 1983, we spent some time in Upper Marlboro, Maryland and commuted into DC to do tourist things. Several of us went to the diner next to the motel to grab breakfast. Jerry saw "scrapple" listed on the menu and wondered what that was. Mike, who was from Seattle, told him that it was a wonderful dish made basically from scrambled, flavored apples. Jerry thought that sounded good and ordered some.

Scrapple in Maryland is apparently not much like scrapple in Washington state.