What is the difference between livermush and scrapple?

Question

What is the difference between livermush and scrapple?

Answer 1

Livermush (or Liver Mush or Liver Pudding) is a Southern United States foodstuff composed of pig liver, head parts, and cornmeal. It is commonly spiced with pepper and sage. Considered a more tolerable version of scrapple, livermush was most likely brought south through the Appalachian mountains by German settlers from Philadelphia. Livermush is colloquially known as poor man's or poor boy's pâté.

Scrapple is a savory mush in which cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, are simmmered with pork scraps and trimmings, then formed into a loaf. Small scraps of meat left over from butchering, too small to be used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a regional food of Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

Never had either.

Answer 2

Can't say I've ever heard of "Livermush" but I will confirm the above comments that here in the Mid Atlantic-- particularly southern PA and Maryland, we LOVE scrapple. To me it's the only fatty breakfast meat worth eating!

Answer 3

Though made from basically the same ingredients, livermush and scrapple are made distinct by liver.

Livermush MUST have liver. Scrapple could have some liver, or could not. But Livermush NEEDS liver or it's just plain scrapple.

Answer 4

Honestly, I'm from the South and we eat livermush often.  We buy Mack's Livermush.  My mom fries it hard where it is crispy.  I have also baked it where it is kind of soft.  Both ways it is good.  

I've also had scrapple in Washington, DC.  I can't really tell the difference between the two, except that my DC relatives kind of cut it on the thin side when we Southerners cut it a bit thick, like as thick as an index finger.

Below are some definitions from Wikipedia.  A good experiment would be to get a loaf of each, prepare them and taste.  It is a good delicacy for anytime of day.    

Livermush from Wikipedia states that it is (Liver Mush or Liver Pudding) is a Southern United States foodstuff composed of pig liver, head parts, and cornmeal. It is commonly spiced with pepper and sage. Considered a more tolerable version of scrapple, livermush was most likely brought south through the Appalachian mountains by German settlers from Philadelphia. Livermush is colloquially known as poor man's or poor boy's pâté.

Shelby, North Carolina hosts an annual Livermush Exposition, which began in 1987 to celebrate the unique delicacy. In that year the Cleveland County Commissioners and the Shelby City Council passed resolutions proclaiming that "livermush is the most delicious, most economical and most versatile of meats." Other towns in North Carolina that have livermush festivals include Drexel and Marion. Sonnys Grill in Blowing Rock, NC is famous for its livermush [1]

It is commonly prepared by cutting a slice off of a prepared loaf and frying it with grease in a skillet until golden brown, much like you would Spam. At breakfast it would be served alongside grits and eggs. For lunch it can be made into a sandwich with mayonnaise or mustard, either fried as above, or left cold. As livermush's popularity rises, it is appearing as a primary ingredient in dishes such as omelette and pizza.

Scrapple, according to Wikipedia, is a savory mush in which cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour, are simmmered with pork scraps and trimmings, then formed into a loaf. Small scraps of meat left over from butchering, too small to be used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a regional food of Philadelphia, New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland.

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. The proportions and seasoning are very much a matter of the region and the cook's taste.

Commercial scrapple often contains these traditional ingredients, with a distinctive flavor to each brand. A few manufacturers have introduced beef and turkey varieties and color the loaf to retain the traditional coloration derived from the original pork liver base.

Vegetarian scrapple, made from soy protein or wheat gluten, is offered in some places. It is seasoned to be much sweeter than typical meat scrapple.

Scrapple is typically cut into quarter-inch slices, and pan-fried until the outsides form a crust. It is sometimes coated with flour or fried in butter or oil. A breakfast food, it is eaten plain or with apple butter, ketchup, pancake syrup, or even mustard and accompanied by eggs.

In some regions, such as New England, scrapple is mixed with scrambled eggs and served with toast.

Scrapple is arguably the first pork food invented in America. The culinary ancestor of scrapple was the Low German dish called Panhas, which was adapted to make use of locally available ingredients. The first recipes were created more than two hundred years ago by colonists, who settled near Philadelphia and Chester County, Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries[1].

Scrapple is strongly associated with Philadelphia and surrounding eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Delaware. Among the Pennsylvania Dutch and in Appalachia, scrapple is known as pawn haas or pon haus, a term hailing back to the old German dish. It can be found in most supermarkets throughout this region in both fresh and frozen refrigerated cases. It can sometimes be found in cities farther from this area, even as far away as Los Angeles, in frozen form.