Hubby must not read my blog very often, because he loves scrapple but didn't jump to its defense after my somewhat critical post on the mixed meat.
His sister, though, certainly did! Adriane says:
I will defend our beloved Scrapple to my dying day!! People are 'afraid' of scrapple, because it is assumed that the 'scraps' are swept off the butcher room floor or are taken from the tails, toes or ears of the swine. NOT SO! The 'scraps' are merely the ppieces of meat so small they cannot be sold - so they are salvaged to make an AWESOME product! There are several other types of meats and foods that are created by congealing them from boiling the bones, and internal organs of the animal for superb flavor, not just scrapple.
I admire her commitment to the still-questionable-in-my-mind meat product, but I'm still not a fan.
Meanwhile, from the other half of our family, my sister Louise weighs in:
I would eat some scrapple if it is sliced very thin and fried very crisp and brown. Scrapple's problem is it is UGLY FOOD. Maybe add a little red dye? olives? Oh well.
Well, she's got me on one point. Maybe it is the look, not the taste, that bothers me so much.
Well, I will say that, despite being a Scrapple lover, I always shunned Spam. But this past winter we had friends who vacationed in Hawaii, and upon their return, we enjoyed a Hawaii Party at their house where they prepared Hawaiian cuisine, which, of course, revolves around spam. I was nervous, but I will say, the way they prepare spam is DEE-lish! Very similar to scrappel, but much more mysterious in is composition. So I will say that when it comes to spam, I suppose I can somewhat understand your apprehension to scrapple in that not being sure what's in it can make you wary...
If you're ever around southeastern Minn. be sure to stop at Hormel's SPAM MUSEUM! Yepper, there's an actual museum dedicated to SPAM snd it is very nice, as is the gift shop there. Check them out on the web.
Love it!!!! It is a local osession, though! Don't think about it....just eat it! Loise is right about thin and crisp. Some diners serve it much too thick, and that is where most non-lovers most likely try it.