Scrapple — a loaf of pork scraps (head meat, organ meat, trim, skin) cooked with cornmeal and buckwheat flour, spiced with sage, thyme, and black pepper, set into a loaf pan, sliced, and fried — is the Pennsylvania Dutch answer to "what do you do with the parts nobody wants?" The answer: make them into something everyone fights over. The dish descends from the German *Panhas* (pan rabbit — a misleading name for a pork-and-grain loaf) brought by the Palatine German immigrants who settled Pennsylvania in the 17th-18th centuries. Scrapple is the Mid-Atlantic breakfast protein, served from Philadelphia through the Delaware Valley to Baltimore, and virtually unknown beyond that geography.
Pork trim and offal (head, liver, heart, tongue, skin — everything the butcher can't sell as a cut) simmered until tender, then the meat is removed, chopped fine, and returned to the cooking broth. Cornmeal and buckwheat flour are stirred into the broth and cooked until thick (like polenta). The mixture is seasoned with sage, thyme, marjoram, black pepper, and salt, then poured into loaf pans and refrigerated until set firm. To serve: slice 1cm thick, dredge in flour, and pan-fry in butter or lard until both sides are deeply golden and crispy. The exterior should crackle; the interior should be soft, porky, and grain-textured.
1) Fry until CRISPY — the crust is the technique. Soft, pale-fried scrapple is a failure. The Maillard crust on the fried surface provides the textural contrast that makes scrapple addictive. 2) Slice firm and cold — the loaf must be thoroughly set (overnight minimum) before slicing. Warm scrapple crumbles. 3) The seasoning must be bold — sage and black pepper should be prominent.
Scrapple with maple syrup — the sweet syrup against the salty, sage-scented, crispy pork loaf is the definitive breakfast pairing. Scrapple on a fried egg sandwich — the Philadelphia breakfast of champions. The same nose-to-tail ethic as the Cajun boucherie (LA1-10) and the Appalachian hog killing — waste nothing, make everything delicious.
Not frying crispy enough — the exterior must be deeply golden and audibly crunchy. Slicing too thin — the slice breaks during frying. 1cm minimum.
William Woys Weaver — Pennsylvania Dutch Country Cooking