NATIONAL SCRAPPLE DAY
Arguably the first pork food invented in America, scrapple gets its own day of honor as November 9 celebrates National Scrapple Day. For those who are not familiar with scrapple, which is also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name “pon haus“, it is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal, wheat flour and spices. (The spices may include, but are not limited to: sage, thyme, savory and black pepper.) The mush is then formed into a semi-solid loaf, sliced and pan-fried.
The immediate ancestor of scrapple was the Low German dish called panhas, which was adapted to make use of locally available ingredients and, in parts of Pennsylvania, it is still called “”Pannhaas”, “panhoss”, “ponhoss” or “pannhas”.
It was in the 17th and 18th centuries that the first recipes for scrapple were created by Dutch colonists who settled near Philadelphia and Chester County, Pennsylvania. Hence the origin of its discovery, it is strongly associated with rural areas surrounding Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington D.C., eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, eastern Virginia and the Delmarva Peninsula.
- Scrapple can be found in supermarkets throughout the area in both refrigerated and frozen cases.
- Home recipes for beef, chicken and turkey scrapple are available.
- Scrapple is sometimes deep fried or broiled instead of pan frying.
- Scrapple is typically eaten as a breakfast side dish.
- Condiments are sometimes served with scrapple; some of which include: apple butter, ketchup, jelly, maple syrup, honey, horseradish or mustard.