Meats and Sausages
Scrapple
Scrapple is commonly considered an ethnic food of the Pennsylvania Dutch, descendants of late 17th and early 18th century immigrants to Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina from southern Germany, eastern France (Alsace and Lorraine) and Switzerland. including the Mennonites and Amish.
Scrapple is something like a meaty fried polenta, cornmeal to which seasonings and relatively lean cooked meat, usually pork, have been added. The cooked mixture is poured into loaf pans and refrigerated overnight to stiffen. Then it is sliced and fried in a little butter, oil or bacon grease.
The scrapple is formed into loaves and allowed to cool thoroughly until set. Scrapple is typically cut into quarter-inch to three-quarter-inch slices and pan-fried in butter or oil until brown to form a crust. It is it is important to let each side brown thoroughly before attempting to turn it over or it will stick and fall apart. Scrapple is usually eaten as a breakfast side dish. It can be served plain or with either apple butter, ketchup, jelly, maple syrup, honey, or mustard. Scrapple freezes very well; just slice it and place in freezer bags.
| Materials | Metric | US |
|---|---|---|
| Pork butt, bone-in | 2.0 kg | 4.4 lb |
| Cornmeal | 480 g | 4 cups |
Ingredients per 1000g (1 kg) of materials
| Salt | 18 g | 3 tsp |
| Pepper | 2.0 g | 1 tsp |
| Allspice, ground | 1.0 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Bay leaf | 1 leaf | |
| Rubbed sage | 1 tsp | |
| Savory, ground | 1.0 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Thyme, dried | 1 tsp | |
| Ginger, ground | 0.5 g | 1/4 tsp |
| Nutmeg | 1.0 g | 1/2 tsp |
| Cloves, ground | 0.3 g | 1/8 tsp |
Instructions
- Place pork butt and 6 liters (6 quarts) in a pot. Bring to a boil and cook below the boiling point for about 2 hours. Place the meat on a table, reserve the stock and when the meat is cool enough to handle, remove the blade bone. Chop the meat finely. Take 3 liters (3 quarts) of the meat stock, add salt, pepper and all spices and bring to a boil.
- Gradually add cornmeal, stirring constantly until all is thorougly combined. The mixture should be thick enough to support a spoon standing on its own. If the mixture gets to thick, stir in more meat stock. Reduce heat and add all chopped meat and cook for an additional 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
- Line up shallow baking pans with waxed paper so that the ends extend over the long sides. Pour the mixture into the pans, allow to cool, cover with foil and place in refrigerator to set and become solid. Slice into 1/4 - 1/2” (6 -12 mm) slices and fry.
Notes
Scrapple is usually fried
Scrapple goes well with maple syrup
