Don’t Pork this Roll or Scrap this Scrapple! The Dirty Culinary Pride of South Jersey/Philly
Mar 16th, 2008 by Amy
Ok, so I’m a little bit gross this last Sunday of Lent asking you, dear readers, to not “pork this roll”. I’ll pray extra hard next weekend that I’m not damned to hell (even though I’m on my way anyways). I thought I’d spend a moment to introduce all our readers to a bit of culinary genius that is often considered fatty and ‘bad for you’ that is really only available in the New Jersey/Philadelphia area - PORK ROLL and SCRAPPLE. Now, you may be thinking, could it be true!? A ROLL of pork? Rolled Pork? Scrapple? What the hell are these things? This HAS to be another form of lips and assholes, right? YES, YOU ARE RIGHT! And they are both absolutely delicious.
I refuse to ’sugar coat’ what pork roll and scrapple are. So if you’ve eaten it your whole life without knowing what it actually is, please stop reading now. To give you a bit of background, I grew up around Philadelphia, eating both of these tasty treats as a ‘breakfast side dish’, but only once a weekend since they were “bad for you”. Pork roll and scrapple were also often used in egg and cheese sandwiches too, which could possibly give you a coranary five minutes after you finished eating one. I never asked what exactly either of these two treats were - for some reason, I just knew not to ask. I remember my family telling me not to even look on the side of the package to read the ingredients because I may just never eat it again. Sometimes, I thought, it was just better not knowing.
But my desire to know a bit more has led me to write this post. I’m at a different stage with my eating than I was years ago. I now will eat cow balls if I’m in a country where cow balls are the local delicacy. I’m not afraid of knowing what exactly I’m eating - I’ll still try it. So, bring it… I’m not afraid anymore. Well, I wasn’t until I read this explanation of pork roll on one website:
What is pork roll made of, you ask? Well, it’s a secret concoction, which consists mainly of pork ground up with bits of fat and seasonings, and then hung and cured in cotton bags…the rest is best left unsaid.
Does that help you understand it any better? Me neither. According to one of the oldest and 
most popular pork roll manufacturers, Taylor Provisions, it is “a type of sausage-like pork product made from coarsely ground pork shoulder”. It is also smoked. Most people from New Jersey will call pork roll “Taylor Ham” after the Trenton-based manufacturer. Maybe they do this to make it sound more edible? Where I grew up, outside of Philadelphia, it was just simply called pork roll. It is supposedly called this because of the ‘roll’ or tube-like cotton sack that it comes in when you buy it. You can also buy pre-cut slices so you don’t have to figure out how to get it out of that damn sack. It looks like a big, long salami when it’s packaged whole. Pork roll is often grilled or fried (for a double heart-attack) and should be cut slightly with either 2 or 4 slits on the outer edges so that it cooks more evenly and doesn’t curl. Now, on to scrapple.
Scrapple truly is made up of “lips and assholes”, although they don’t actually advertise that on any of the websites. According to Wikipedia, scrapple is a savory mush (yes, that is what they said) of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour. The mush is formed into a loaf and that’s how it comes when you buy it. You must slice it, like pork roll, and fry it up till the outside is crispy and the inside is nice and soft and warm. Scrapple got it’s name from the fact that it’s made of scraps the butcher was either going to throw out (aka, lips and assholes) or parts that are too small to be sold. Wikipedia actually offers a really wonderful description of the cooking process (which actually sells the product to non-believers better than I can - maybe I’m being too harsh with the ‘lips and assholes’ thing?):
Scrapple is typically made of hog offal, such as the head, heart, liver, and other scraps, which are boiled with any bones attached (often the entire head), to make a broth. Once cooked, bones and fat are discarded, the meat is reserved, and (dry) cornmeal is boiled in the broth to make a mush. The meat, finely minced, is returned, and seasonings, typically sage, thyme, savory, and others are added. The mush is cast into loaves and allowed to cool thoroughly until gelled.
Sounds good, huh? Both pork roll and scrapple really are delicious. If you’re still not sold on either of them, think about all the other things that are made from seemingly ‘gross’ things but taste pretty darn delicious - haggis, tripe, fried sheep brains, marrow, pigs feet, pigs ears, etc. etc. Next time you visit the store, ask if they have scrapple or pork roll. It may be hard to find, but I’ve read it is sold in some places in Florida and California. If you really are interested in tasting pork roll or scrapple, check out some of these mail order websites:
- http://www.jerseyporkroll.com/
- http://www.jerseyboyporkroll.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi
- http://www.buynjporkroll.com/
Does your city or country have a dish that others may look down upon or think would be nasty if they knew what it was made of? I’d love to know!
Lips and Assholes… I always did like scrapple. Cant find it here in the Midwest. But in Maryland (my homestate) and Philly it was part of life. I knew it was weird mushed up stuff, but “lips and assholes”, made me pause.Its like a one night stand, sometimes its best to know nothing.Thanks for the link. Want to order my baby some.
Hmm, SPAM is probably the closest thing to Scrapple me thinks. I have no problem eating something as long as it tastes good but I will eat it seldomly if it’s not that healthy for you.
As for Scrapple, it sounds like this dish could be the “Dirty Sanchez” of cookery…you get ass & lips all in one bite!
*gulps*
I’ve never heard of any of these, but after reading the post…despite your declarations of deliciousness, I think I’d need a little Dutch courage to give ‘em a try
i love all of the nasty things you mentioned *grin*
Ha ha ha! I love my readers! This post was interesting for me to write because for a few hours after I published it i though to myself, did I go too far? Should I have written about the “lips and assholes”?? Not that we get that many hits here at the blog, could I have stopped anyone from trying these horribly delicious delicacies I grew up on? Courtney, I applaud your ability to put it so well that in our area, it was a “way of life”. Peter, what can I say, when someone can find a place to write “dirty sanchez” on a food blog, well, it’s genius! Ellie, I’ll give you that Dutch courage… I promise! I would NEVER put anything up on this blog that actually didn’t taste pretty darn good to alot of people! and Rita, you crack me up! Now I need to get some more people from my area to convince you too - but Courtney was a great start. Have a good Monday, y’all! - amy and jonny
But then I get all these hilarious, open-minded comments and I realized it was worth it! Peter,
sorry, somehow my comment above got messed up - but i think you get my point.
I have actually had and enjoyed both of these in the past…I will admit it!
I grew up in the Philadelphia area, and these two meat items are some of my favorites!
Last year, I was on some medication that required me to eat breakfast. If I ate anything with carbohydrate in it, I was sick for the entire day; consequently, bacon, Spam, and things of that nature became the norm. I was “whining” to my parents who still live in Philadelphia about my problem (I am 50+ years old!), and a few weeks later, a box containing a cotton sack of a whole Taylor Pork Roll arrived in the mail with no indication of who sent it. I was afraid to open it, but the sack appeared to be intact, and I just LOVE Taylor Pork Roll, so I dipped into it. I happened to mention the mystery gift in my next communication with my parents, and my parents responded with, “Who ELSE in the world would send your a Taylor Pork Roll? Of COURSE we sent it to you!” My husband and I ate on that Taylor Pork Roll for weeks — finally getting a wee bit tired of it toward the end.
We can get Scrapple here in the Atlanta area — Habbersetts and Jones Farm. I, naturally, prefer Habbersetts, but I’ll eat Jones Farm if it’s served to me.
Scrapple is new for us, thanks for the info. In Viet cuisine, we having many similar pork roll variations with all pork “leftover” meat along with crunchy tendons. My mom makes one pork roll with her favorite…pork skin!
Pork roll is delicious. Its my favorite breakfast meats even though i know what its made from. Who can resist eating something that resembles pac man? Scrapple is also delish but only if its crispy. now that I think of it scrapple is like eating an
atm (not the mac machine)
I love scrapple, I don’t care what its made out of and it really doesn’t bother me, my Sean’s Breakfast includes two slices of scrapple, with eggs over easy on top (2 or 3) and when you cut into it, the egg yoke drips down into the meat, making it even more delicious ^_^
R U kidding me? There is no question the pork roll AND, AND, AND scrapple (only Habbersett, thank you) are the absolute best in breakfast meats. Why should you care what tastes good has in it? Well, except for chitterlings; I just could never bring myself to do them.
BTW, what an excellent blog!
Oh, man! I didn’t even know they still made pork roll! I’m a baby boomer who grew up in Burlington County, NJ. At least once a week pork roll was on the lunch menu in grammar and high school. They would serve it on a regular hamburger bun. The condiment was ketsup. Oh, I would love to have one of those sandwiches now!
Oh, and scrapple! I thought that was a southerner’s delicacy. My folks are from the south, so we would have it for breakfast every once in a while. Yeah, it had to be crispy…nothin nastier than soggy scrapple, ugh!
Hi, Charlie! thanks for stopping by. I loved your story! Pork Roll in schools… you know with all the healthy talk that would never fly these days. but I did go back to philly this past w/e and was pleased to see a teenager at a bagel shop order a ‘taylor and bagel’ sandwich. and, you’re right… I use ketchup on my pork roll AND scrapple. Hope you stop by again!
haha! LOVE IT! Go “meat” go!
Another one for a Philly native to enjoy!
And I love your sister specifying “eating an atm (not the mac machine)” - only a Philly-area native would call it a Mac machine!
Love scrapple AND pork roll!! I don’t care what’s in it, it’s damn good eatin’. I like my scrapple (sliced not-too-thin) with syrup drizzled over it. YUMMM. And my pork roll with melted cheese on a kaiser roll. DOUBLE YUMM.
I just found your blog, by the way…great writing, and nice-looking photos, too. Nice job! I’m subscribing now.
Hey Txvoodoo and Chris! You are so right about the Mac machine. It took me until about 3 years into college to stop calling it that. I want to bring it back! I remember the jingle, “Meet Mac for Your Money”. Ahhh, memories.
And Chris, thanks so much for subscribing! I live to throw in some Philly things here and there. And I thought I was the only one who loved scrapple with syrup! but, i do like crispy scrapple too. my mom and i once thought we should start marketing scrapple chips - just deep fry the shit out of thin slices of scrapple. it would sell ! maybe only in the tri-state area.
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