HAVE YOU EVER TRIED SCRAPPLE?CHEF BRUCE WANTS YOU TO GIVE IT A TRY!

Scrapple, what the heck is Scrapple?

Well, in Wikipedia this tasty food is described as follows: “Scrapple, also known by the Pennsylvania Dutch name Pannhaas or "pan rabbit", is traditionally a mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and wheat flour, often buckwheat flour, and spices.”

Oh but it is so much more than that! The mush is cooled and cut into slices and pan fried so that each slice has a crust on the outside and tasty soft cornmeal contained within. Out of the Disney Movie Beauty and the Beast: “Try the gray stuff, it’s delicious!!!”

If you aren’t from or have close relatives from a region running from upper Midwest through the Northeast north of Virginia, you’ve never been exposed. And let me say this….growing up, we had Scrapple at least 3 times a year and loved every bite of it!!!! As much as I loved our family recipe growing up, making it today is a bit of a letdown. Why? Our recipe has pork, water, cornmeal and buckwheat flour. There are no spices of any variety in our scrapple. I’ve come to like the spices; they bring out the flavor of the pork and the cornmeal!!!! I will share it later on as a base recipe for comparison to the “spicier” versions.

Where Scrapple has a public relations problem comes from the word itself Scrapple….wherein as originally contrived, and as commercially produced in areas where the product is common, the pork base for the recipe is known as Pork Offal. Wikipedia defines Pork Offal as: “refers to the internal organs and entrails of a butchered animal.” I’m with you Yech! It is homage to the Pennsylvania Dutch / Amish who do not waste any portion of an animal. The saying: “Waste not, want not,” applies. As you will see later, none of the recipes I will be sharing require those cuts of the hog.

In my collection of cookbooks, I have at least 3 scrapple recipes. They are from Jeff Smith, the Frugal Gourmet, Marcia Adams of Quilt Country fame, and KPaul Prudhomme of Cajun cooking fame.

Wait just a minute; did I say that KPaul of Cajun fame has a Scrapple recipe? Yes, yes I did. So what was a premiere Cajun chef doing making Scrapple? He seasoned it, of course!!!

And that’s the point! Scrapple has basic ingredients, Pork, cornmeal, various flour products, AND seasonings of your choice.

In Kpaul’s recipe, he uses a 3 pound Boston Butt roast.In Jeff Smith’s, recipe, he suggests pork neck bones. I’m game to try it and will give pictures.

© Chef-Bruce.com 2018

Marcia Adams’ recipe calls for 2 pound of bony pork; she calls for country style ribs cut into pieces. She also calls for a small amount of liver sausage, AKA Liverwurst.

See? No scraps required. The Froog’s recipe is closest to scraps, but you are able to substitute pork rib meat or pork roast or even pork chops! I’ve checked and our local grocery store does indeed have pork neck bones readily available for you to use.

Onward to the spices called for in each of our famous chef recipes.

Marcia Adams:16 whole peppercorns, 1 bay leaf, ½ teaspoon rubbed sage, ¼ teaspoon marjoram (optional), 1/8 teaspoon ground mace, 2 slices liver sausage,. While liver sausage in and of itself is not a spice, it does alter the flavor…

The Froog2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 2 teaspoons rubbed sage leaves, 1 teaspoon savory.

Chef Paul:Mind you, please this is a BIG recipe that yields 2 loaf pans of Scrapple.

Seasoning Mix:¼ cup salt, 2 teaspoons paprika, 2 teaspoons ground pure chili powder, 2 teaspoons sage, 2 teaspoons dry mustard, 2 teaspoons garlic powder, 2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 ½ teaspoons white pepper, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon savory, 1 teaspoon savory, 1 teaspoon marjoram leaves, I teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves, ½ teaspoon ground cardamom.

But, that isn’t all! Unlike any of the peer recipes, this one adds:4 cups chopped onions, 2 ½ cups chopped celery, 2 cups chopped bell pepper, 1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic, ½ cup chopped fresh parsley, 1 cup chopped green onion tops.

Basic ingredients, or those common to the recipe:Cornmeal, all chefs.Broth resulting from braising of pork product, the base of which is either water or chicken stock,Buckwheat flour, which appears in both Marcia Adams and our family recipe.

If you noticed that the Chef Bruce family recipe does not include any spices or alterations from the pork, cornmeal and buckwheat flour basic, you’d be spot on! Our recipe though crispy and good is, well basic.

It will serve as a great basic platform to compare the versions to each other.

Onward to the cooking!!

© Chef-Bruce.com 2018