Is NYC Experiencing Its First Scrapplegasm?

First off, apologies for the headline — but we did not invent the word scrapplegasm. It’s the name of an event that took place last month in Delaware, where scrapple is a local staple. The greasy brick of pork scraps and cornmeal is ubiquitous in the mid-Atlantic region, but for years it’s been conspicuously (okay, not quite conspicuously) absent from New York City menus. Maybe because, eaten at your average Pennsylvania diner, scrapple often has the sharp, tangy taste of wet cat food.

In any case, chefs in the B+B domain have started proving that lumps of pan-fried offal can be yum-worthy instead of ew-worthy. Here’s where to get the best versions.

Sweet Chick
178 Ludlow St., bet. E. Houston and Stanton Sts., Lower East Side
Though chef Jon Wallace was raised in New York, his father was from Oklahoma and his mother was from Washington, D.C. — so it’s not surprising scrapple ended up on Sweet Chick’s menu when it opened in the former Max Fish space last week. “It’s something I’ve always eaten growing up,” Wallace told us.

To make a version that he says is “not unlike a French terrine experience” (with pickled carrot, Dijon mustard, and a spicy salad on the side) he slow-cooks pork belly and ham hocks in beer and adds cornmeal, parsley, diced habaneros, and roasted garlic to the shredded meat. “We’ve upped the ante” on traditional scrapple, Wallace says.

Ivan Ramen 
25 Clinton St., nr. Stanton St., Lower East Side; 646-678-3859
Ivan Orkin doesn’t have any mid-Atlantic ties, but that didn’t keep him from creating a scrapple-tied version of that Japanese yakitori fixture, okonomiyaki. “We just really love scrapple,” he says of his kitchen crew, later explaining, “I’m a red-blooded American and I love my country — it’s a great food that’s indigenous, and I think a lot of chefs are into that.”

That said, the folks at Ivan Ramen came up with the dish kind of by mistake, after some failed attempts to create scrapple okonomiyaki in a frying pan. “Finally in frustration we just threw the scrapple into the waffle iron and we ended up with this beautiful, crispy, perfectly cooked scrapple.” To make the waffle Orkin braises pork shoulder, chicken liver and hearts, and presses the “liquidly meat” while it cools, so that it hardens into a brick that can then be sliced and put into the waffle iron. The waffle is topped with pickled apple, charred Napa cabbage and bean sprouts, and dressed with Kewpie mayo and bulldog sauce.

Orkin wasn’t surprised the scrapple waffle took off. “It’s a freakin’ hunk of meat made into a waffle!”

Delaware & Hudson 
135 N. 5th St., nr. Bedford Ave., Williamsburg; 718-218-8191
Williamsburg’s breakfast favorite, Egg, served homemade scrapple as a side at its original location (and still serves it at its new home on N 3rd). Now the restaurant that recently took over the old space on N 5th, Delaware & Hudson, has turned scrapple into a proper brunch entree by pairing it with two eggs. It’s no wonder: chef Patti Jackson is a “proud native of Northeastern Pennsylvania,” according to her bio. Though we have yet to find out what exactly makes her version so delicious, we’ve tried it and can confirm it doesn’t taste anything like cat food.