MIDDLETOWN, Del. – You love or loathe bread.
Scrapple, the breakfast meat made from pork that is not often talked about – like snouts, livers, and hearts – a thick layer of cornmeal porridge, and sprinkles with herbs and spices, isn’t for everyone.
But devout scrapple fans firmly believe that these gray, brick-like blocks of mysterious meat are better than bacon, and perhaps even more satisfying than sausage.
And no more proof is required than a quick scroll through the Scrapple Trail, a year-long public Facebook page that now has more than 7,200 members.
Scrapple haters, don’t fret about this regional yum. The Scrapple Trail Facebook page celebrates and sings a passionate love song for the pork loaf that admirers seem to like best when sliced, fried until crispy but still has a tender center.
“How is Scrapple not like EVERYWHERE AND EVERYWHERE? This stuff is amazing and I would stand behind it !!!! ”Wrote a fan on the site last December.
The Scrapple Trail site was started as a Lark by three Maryland residents, Clayton Mitchell, Bunky Luffman, and Robert Zimberoff who act as administrators.
The men who know each other in Maryland political circles were talking about local foods as they attended the 18th annual Taste of the Eastern Shore on February 13, 2020.
The meeting consisted of classic regional foods from the Lower Eastern Shore such as fried chicken, soft shell crabs, locally grown oysters and Smith Island cake.
But all three men were surprised to find no trace of scratches, a dish Mitchell and Luffman had eaten in Maryland that Zimberoff discovered and fell in love with after moving to the area from Chicago.
One day after the event, Valentine’s Day 2020, the trio created the Maryland Scrapple Trail Facebook page as an ode to the most popular breakfast meat in the Mid-Atlantic region.
A month later, they simply changed the name to Scrapple Trail.
While giving themselves witty titles – Luffman is the “Commander” of the Scrapple Trail, Mitchell acts as “Consigliere”, and Zimberoff as “Assistant Secretary” – the men are seriously pursuing most types of scrapple, a staple for Maryland diner menus and Delaware.
Well, maybe not a vegan scrapple. “Blasphemy,” said Mitchell, laughing.
WHERE’S THE SCRAPPLE?
The plan for the Scrapple Trail was to highlight and create a guide to restaurants, cafes, local butchers, and stores in the area that make or sell Scrapple. Members can participate virtually or in person.
At first, scrapple lovers planned Sunday meals. The first was at Twinny’s Place, a family restaurant in Galena, Maryland that dates back to the 1950s. About 40 people ate everything from scrapple sauce to scrapple sandwiches to scrapple fries.
The next stop was Cindy’s Kitchen, a casual restaurant in Cambridge, Maryland that featured high praise for the Old Bay Hot Sauce, which adds tangy sass to scrapple platters, usually seasoned with sage and pepper.
About a month after the Facebook page was created, the coronavirus pandemic began to close, restaurants and events in the area. Fans now mostly post photos of their own scrapple meals along with places to find the breakfast meat.
Shout-outs are given to scrape finds. A member recently gave a thumbs up to the $ 16.95 breakfast burger at the Two Stones Pub in Middletown, which combines scrapple, bacon, and scrambled eggs on a garlic brioche topped with sriracha ketchup. The restaurant also has scrapple nachos, the fan wrote.
The Haass Family Butcher Shop in Dover receives frequent compliments for their homemade scrapping, which has been part of the business since it opened in 1955.
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First made in 2014, Dogfish Head’s limited edition Scrapple Stout, Beer for Breakfast, is still mentioned, although it is not among the Milton Brewery’s 2021 releases.
And Off the Hoof, a scrapple-flavored vodka from Painted Stave Distilling in Smyrna, has fascinated brunch lovers looking to spice up a Bloody Mary.
Members also talk about places where they discovered Scrapple Tacos, Scrapple Maki Rolls, Scrapple Cheesesteaks, Scrapple Wellington, and even Vegan Scrapple.
Mitchell, who likes the “earthy” taste of Scrapple and jokingly calls it “the gray meat candy,” said he never expected the Facebook page to become popular.
About two weeks after its inception, the Scrapple Trail had 600 members, he said.
“It’s just escalated,” said Zimberoff. “We really just thought they would be friends of friends.”
But the members have grown steadily.
“We thought it would only be Maryland people. Now we have someone on an Oklahoma military base asking where to get Scrapple, ”said Mitchell.
ALL BUT THE OINK
The appeal of scrapple is by no means new. Scrapple, an Old World delicacy, probably dates from the time of pork butchering in Germany in the 16th century, according to The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
Every part of the pig, with the exception of the oink, as the old saw says, was used by thrifty cooks, and all of the leftovers, including giblets, were made into an early version of scrapple, which then looked more like blood pudding.
When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia and Chester Counties in the 17th and 18th centuries, they recreated the dish, but also added cornmeal and sometimes buckwheat, as well as herbs like sage. The ingredients were cooked to a broth in broth and then poured into loaf pans and allowed to cool.
In 1863, Isaac S. Habbersett opened Habbersett Pork Products in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the first to mass-produce scrap, according to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
Delaware has since grown into one of the world’s largest scrapple producers. Breakfast meat has been a part of the state’s economy since 1926 when brothers Ralph and Paul Adams opened the RAPA manufacturing facility in Bridgeville, Delaware. The brothers created the original Scrapple brand recipes that are still used today.
Every part of the pig, with the exception of the oink, as the old saw says, was used by thrifty cooks, and all of the leftovers, including giblets, were made into an early version of scrapple, which then looked more like blood pudding.
When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania near Philadelphia and Chester Counties in the 17th and 18th centuries, they recreated the dish, but also added cornmeal and sometimes buckwheat, as well as herbs like sage. The ingredients were cooked to a broth in broth and then poured into loaf pans and allowed to cool.
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In 1863, Isaac S. Habbersett opened Habbersett Pork Products in Middletown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, the first to mass-produce scrap, according to the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia.
Delaware has since grown into one of the world’s largest scrapple producers. Breakfast meat has been a part of the state’s economy since 1926 when brothers Ralph and Paul Adams opened the RAPA manufacturing facility in Bridgeville, Delaware. The brothers created the original Scrapple brand recipes that are still used today.
It’s not hard to miss the distinctive, almost lacquered aroma of Scrapple in the tiny Sussex County’s town of Bridgeville when RAPA is cooking batches.
Zimberoff jokes that he can smell it in Maryland “when the wind is blowing in the right direction”.
RAPA is now making scrapple with smoked jalapenos, beef, bacon and a turkey version. Since 1998, RAPA has also been producing Greensboro Scrapple, a pork and beef combination brand popular on the east coast of Maryland, sometimes referred to as the “Prime Rib of Scrapple”.
Mitchell, whose favorite scrapple brand is Greensboro, said the debate over which brand is best is part of the fun on the Facebook page.
“It’s like roots for sports teams,” he said.
Conversations about scrapple spices – ketchup versus maple syrup – are a welcome hot topic, as is the argument about whether scrapple is better cut into thin or thick slices.
What is not allowed and likely to be booted from the site is any mention of politics. Go elsewhere. The administrators say they get enough of it in their daily jobs.
Clayton Mitchell’s roots are deep in Maryland’s East Coast political scene. He is the son of the late R. Clayton Mitchell Jr., a gentleman farmer and former Democratic legislature who became spokesman for the Maryland House of Delegates.
Mitchell’s father was so well known, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan renamed the former Kent Narrows Bridge, part of US Routes 50 and 301, in honor of Mitchell’s father a year before the legislature passed away in 2019.
Bunky Luffman, of Delmar, Maryland, is the special adviser to the secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. And Robert Zimberoff, former journalist and legislative director of the Maryland House of Delegates, is now the Eastern Shore Apprenticeship Navigator for the Maryland Apprenticeship and Training Program.
If the coronavirus pandemic causes problems and restaurants are allowed to operate to full capacity again, the administrators of the Scrapple Trail would like a return to brunch meet-ups. You want to share about future road trips to restaurants in Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
A bus ride to the annual Apple Scrapple Festival in Bridgeville could also be scheduled when the celebration resumes in October.
But for now, scrapple cooking will continue at home.
“I cook 2 pounds at a time,” said Luffman, who eats breakfast meat weekly and rarely has leftovers. “It never goes in the fridge again.”
Patricia Talorico of the Delaware News Journal wrote this story.
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