Scrapple and eggs. Ron Dollete / flickr / 2011 / CC BY-ND 2.0
The 9th of November is Scrapple Day.
The day celebrates one of the oldest, uniquely American pork products.
Scrapple is very popular at breakfast, but today, you get to have it all day, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Do you think it’s awesome? OR awful offal?
If you’ve not heard of it before, it’s a meatloaf made from a mixture of “off-cuts” of pork, cornmeal, flour and spices. (It’s also seen referred to as “pon haus” in Pennsylvania Dutch areas.)
Some people think of it as “mystery meat”, because they’re not sure what’s in it — and are not sure they want to know.
Some brands of scrapple are seasoned with just salt and pepper: others add some herbs. Do you have a favourite brand?
There are also turkey-, venison– and beef-based versions available now.
What do you like your scrapple served with — apple butter, honey, horseradish, jam or jelly, ketchup, mustard, or pancake syrup? Or just straight up?
Scrapple is popular in the southern Mid-Atlantic states. If it’s hard to buy in your area, you can order it online in order to be sure to have some on hand for the big day.
Every year, Bridgeville, Delaware holds an Apple Scrapple Festival.
#ScrappleDay #NationalScrappleDay
See also: Scrapple, Offal, World Tripe Day
Activities for today
- Go with a friend to a restaurant that serves scrapple for breakfast;
- buy some scrapple the day before so you can cook it up today at home for breakfast;
- try deep-frying it or broiling it, instead of the typical pan-frying;
- have slices of scrapple in a sandwich;
- cut the scrapple into strips and cook them up as scrapple fries;
- make some scrapple tacos;
- try a slice of scrapple in a breakfast sandwich with a fried egg and toasted English muffin;
- have some scrapple for supper.
Further reading
History
The earliest print mention that CooksInfo is aware of for a “Scrapple Day” dates from 2016 in Pennsylvania:
“The Sunbury Senior Action Center, 601 Pennsylvania Ave., features Wii at 10 a.m, National Scrapple Day with eggs, scrapple, homefries, toast, fruit at 11:30 a.m. Cost is $3.50. Must be signed up. Poker at 12:30 p.m. Information 570-286-1820.” — What’s Going On Here. Today: Senior Activities / Sunbury. Sunbury, Pennsylvania: The Daily Item. Wednesday, 9 November 2016. Page C7, col. 3.
Sources
Cronin, Gavin. Mystery Meat: Celebrating National Scrapple Day. Emmaus, PA: The Stinger. 9 November 2020. Accessed October 2021 at https://stingerehs.com/13062/news/mystery-meat-celebrating-national-scrapple-day/
Dulebohn, Amy. Celebrate National Scrapple Day. Hagerstown, Maryland: The Herald-Mail. 10 November 2016. Accessed October 2021 at https://www.heraldmailmedia.com/story/lifestyle/2016/11/10/celebrate-national-scrapple-day/45636421/
Herman, Beth. National Scrapple Day: Love It Or Hate It? Farmers Almanac. 4 November 2021. Accessed November 2021 at https://www.farmersalmanac.com/what-scrapple
Mellon, Ryan. It’s National Scrapple Day: here’s what to know about the Pennsylvania Dutch classic. Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Lancaster Online. 9 November 2020. Accessed October 2021 at
https://lancasteronline.com/features/its-national-scrapple-day-heres-what-to-know-about-the-pennsylvania-dutch-classic/article_db5e6c26-e42d-11e8-962a-af1638c7bf42.html
National Scrapple Day! Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Quaker Valley Foods. 7 November 2018. Accessed October 2021 at https://quakervalleyfoods.com/national-scrapple-day-2/
Today Is Scrapple Day! WTF Is Scrapple? Miami, Florida: South Florida Reporter. 8 November 2019. Accessed October 2021 at https://southfloridareporter.com/today-is-scrapple-day-wtf-is-scrapple/
Vitarelli, Alicia. November 9th marks National Scrapple Day. Philadelphia, PA: WPVI-TV. 9 November 2018. Accessed October 2021 at https://6abc.com/us–world-scrapple-national-day-lancaster-county/4656137/