A meat product similar to sausage, scrapple is—depending on who you ask—a delicacy here in its native Pennsylvania. However, if you're living outside the Mid-Atlantic, you might be a little more apt to turn your nose up at this salty, savory slab of breakfast meat.

Why? Well, we're not going to sugarcoat it for you. Scrapple is more or less exactly what it sounds like: leftover "scraps" of pork that are chopped and boiled then blended with spices and cornmeal mush.

(According to Rapa, a leading scrapple manufacturer based in Delaware, the ingredients in scrapple are pork stock, pork livers, pork fat, pork snouts, corn meal, pork hearts, wheat flour, salt and spices. Hey, we didn't say it was pretty.) Once pressed into a loaf pan, the slab of meat is inverted onto a dish, resulting in a rectangular shaped slab that's cut into quarter-inch-thick slices and pan-fried until golden-brown and crispy. Here in Philly, scrapple is often served alongside eggs for breakfast, and it's not unheard of to top the salty side dish with condiments, like maple syrup, jelly, ketchup or mustard. 

Okay, so we've gone over what scrapple is and how it's served, but where did scrapple come from? Like the soft pretzel, this polarizing pork product was introduced to our area during the 17th and 18th centuries by German settlers who settled in what's now known as Lancaster County. The Pennsylvania Dutch, as these settlers became known, had a Dutch word for what we now know as scrapple: panhas.

 While scrapple quickly spread in popularity due to its characteristic crispy outside and soft interior, the dish was actually created out of necessity. The Pennsylvania Dutch relied on the recipe to get the most out their livestock; scrapple ensured that no part of the pig went to waste.

Nowadays, three manufacturers are most closely associated with scrapple: Habbersett, a Delaware-based brand founded in 1893; the Pennsylvania-based Godshall's, now in its third generation; and Hatfield Quality Meats, a pork product manufacturer that got its start way back in 1895. Served everywhere from greasy spoons to trendy eateries, scrapple, most likely sourced from one of these manufacturers, maintains a strong presence in Philly's food scene. Will it ever become as beloved as Philadelphia's most iconic edible offering, the cheesesteak? Probably not, but that just makes us want to root for this underdog all the more, and we're proud to give scrapple a place to call home.