Growing up I always heard about scrapple, and in some locations in the Southern Tier of NY state it even showed up on menus. I was always too chicken to try it. Not anymore. Being New Years Day I figured that a fatty crispy breakfast meat would be the perfect way to kick off the new year and solve my post alcohol cravings.

The ingredients listing is enough to scare off a few people I’m sure. You really get everything but the oink.

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From the descriptions I read, the process for making it  is very much like head cheese, which made think I was likely to enjoy this.I opened up the package and went in for the sniff test. It smelled very much like breakfast sausage with a hint of liver, pretty much what I expected. Slicing into it revealed a rough, grainy texture.

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I got my pan nice and hot with some olive oil and got ready to fry. As soon as it hit the pan it started sizzling and spitting, all that fat inside made itself known right away. The cooking time on the package said 8-10 minutes on one side and then to flip and cook on the other side. With that amount of cooking time I was deterred from trying some raw.

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I realized when I went to flip why the package said to cut the slices 3/8 of an inch, I cut mine too thin and flipping them was very hard, they really crumbled badly. Never one to let good fat go to waste I tossed a couple eggs into the pan after the first flip. Once the scrapple and eggs were cooked it was time to dive in. The smell of it cooking led me to believe I was going to enjoy this one.

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The texture was a bit mealy and more crumbly than I expected, you could tell it was made with a good bit of cornmeal, it wasn’t bad, just a little grainy, like polenta that has not been fully cooked out. The mild flavor was surprising, especially compared to the smell. You could tell it had organ meats in it but it was not at all overpowering. It was a lot like a white pudding in a traditional Irish breakfast. Where it got really delicious was after I used it to sweep up some egg yolk. The added richness of the egg yolk combined with the crispy seasoned pork was excellent.

Scrapple gets a resounding “Try It” from me and I am looking forward to finishing up the rest of it.

 

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8 Responses

  2. Dave

    Grew up in the Philadelphia area, and Scrapple was a popular thing. Very hard to find here in New England, even 40 years later. I remember it as much more sausage-like, coming in a cylindrical package, and you would slice it and fry it.

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  3. Tracy

    Growing up in Philly this is very common. My mom use to make fried scrapple sandwiches on a very buttered kaiser roll with ketchup. Sadly, not knowing any better, I loved it! I ate scrapple until my first pregnancy when I learned to read all ingredients before eating anything. That did it for me. I’ve never had it again. It’s ashame because it’s really, really good!

    Reply
  4. Latanya

    Born and raised in Philly, I often had this alongside scrambled eggs. It’s definitely a Philly tradition and is quite good topped with maple syrup.

    Reply
  5. Jay

    To make scrapple, they boil the meat. I’m pretty sure that you don’t actually have to cook it before eating it. It just probably tastes a lot better when hot.

    Reply
  6. Skylar

    Definitely try it with maple syrup! We butcher pigs in the fall and make our own scrapple, really good right out of the kettle! Also, after you fry it, spread a maple syrup/butter mix on 2 slices white bread and make a scrapple sandwich. Heaven.

    Reply

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