As local specialties go , it ’s hard to top scrapple in the unearthly section . I signify , who in their right brain wants to eat a slice of fried pig guts and tendon along with their daybreak eggs and pledge ? Philadelphians , apparently . We have a go at it it , eating more of the stuff than most any other part in the US . So , how much do you know about Philly ’s strange breakfast staple ? believably not these 10 facts :

Scrapple’s roots go back centuries

like styles of processed dishes can be get hold date all the way back to pre - Roman time . The innovative equivalent of scrapple was first introduce to the Philadelphia area by German settlers back in the seventeenth or 18th century .

Scrapple didn’t get its name because it’s made with scraps

The name " scrapple " most in all probability arise as a shortened version ofpanhaskröppel , which stems from wordspanhaasorpanaas(“pan cony ” ) andskröppel(”a slice of ” ) . translate , panhaskröppelis a piece ofpanhaas . Since that ’s both gross and surd to pronounce , over time it was simplified to scrapple .

Scrapple became available commercially in 1863

Originally locate in Media , Penn . ,Habbersett Pork Productsfirst set out selling scrapple to the good deal in 1863 , and you could still get that same product – with some venial recipe tweaks – in storage today .

It’s grey but that’s OK

Traditionally , scrapple is made with buckwheat flour , which helps inspissate the kernel motley and add flavor and nutritionary economic value . But it ’s also responsible for that unappetizing gray color that accompanies the best , most traditional versions .

Making scrapple is a sort of nasty process (surprise!)

Just like your grandma ’s apple pie , scrapple recipes are highly protect . But the basic recipe is nearly the same across the board – boil an miscellanea of Sus scrofa flake ( including the filthy routine ) to make stock , add in a mixture of Indian meal , buckwheat , and spices until you have a slurry , and then add back in the now - chop pig component into the mixture . fake for a retentive time and place it in a pan until you are quick to slice and serve well . Not just grandmother ’s apple pie , right ?

Other cities have their own variations of scrapple

While Philly may lay claim as the official hometown of scrapple , other cities have their own regional specialties that powerfully resemble it : goetta , made with ground nub and oats , is popular around the Cincinnati region , as is livermush ( mmmm ! ! ! ! ) , scrapple ’s liver - laden cousin-german pop in the South .

You can technically eat scrapple raw

Remember the formula above ? By the time it hits the pan , scrapple is fully ready . You could use up that stuff " raw , " like knock down junk e-mail out on a plate directly from the can ( mmmm ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ) . But we like it well when it ’s nice and crispy .

Yes , you read that right . Now in its 25th yr , theApple Scrapplefestival in Bridgeville , Del. – a short two - hr jaunt from Philly – celebrates all things scrapple and apples and attracts more than 25,000 visitors each year .

November 9th is National Scrapple Day

… which run low to show that there is a national vacation foreverything .

You can thank scrapple for Labor Day

Possibly an urban legend , but the level goes that in 1879 , a world named Rasher Liverburg – a union member at Philadelphia ’s Panhas Packers – proposed a day in September where all the society ’s actor get the twenty-four hours off to enjoy the scrapple they were producing . “ Enjoy Your Scrapple Labor Day ” soon become a annual tradition at the plant . finally , the idea of a yearly twenty-four hour period off of work facing pages , and Labor Day became an official US holiday in 1894 .

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Dan McKaywasn’t born in Philly , so like the rest of the country , he think scrapple is all sorts of nasty . you could follow him onTwitterorInstagram@dannypageviews .

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