Scrapple is boiled, ground leftover pieces of pig, together with cornmeal and spices.

Good scrapple, particularly served with a spicy tomato catsup, is food for the gods.

Bad scrapple, especially with too little cornmeal, with too much grease, or undercooked, is an abomination in the eyes of the horde.

Scrapple is a savory food made of ground pork and cornmeal. The cornmeal is essential to producing the right consistency. Some people add ground onion, and of course there are all manner of variations in seasoning. The purée is baked into loaves and is thus a food of the same basic type as meatloaf - a cake of ground meat and grain.

The name scrapple is English and evidently refers to scraps of meat, because it is common to use organ meat not valued as separate cuts. Never mind the origin of the name; the food itself is associated with the Pennsylvania Dutch, and is found mainly in Pennsylvania and Ohio, where it goes by the German name goetta. I wonder if this word is related to gotte, which means gutter.

Scrapple is usually eaten pan-fried, and people place great value on its having a brown crust. When fully cooked, the inside is soft, like liverwurst. I consider it a delicacy. Many people like it with ketchup. I prefer it under fried eggs with runny yolks. The other way I like it is with fried apples.

Some recipes call for cooking the whole head of the pig or the remains of the carcass after butchering. Modern scrapple recipes often include no organ meat at all. But commercial scrapple is usually made from ground hearts, liver, and (sometimes) snouts of the pig, and occasionally lard. It is often oversalted. There is also a scrapple made from beef hearts.

Scrapple

Slow boil the meat for 2-4 hours or until very tender.
Cut and mash the meat together and return it to the pot. Add water as needed so that the meat is barely covered.
Heat until boiling again and add:
  • 1 cup Corn Meal
  • 1 cup Flour
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Pour mixure into a meat loaf pan to cool.
Chill for several hours or overnight.
Remove the scrapple from the pan and slice or cube.
Roll in flour and fry in hot oil

Scrap"ple (?), n. [Dim. of scrap.]

An article of food made by boiling together bits or scraps of meat, usually pork, and flour or Indian meal.

 

© Webster 1913

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