Scrapple Flame War

I rise from my sick bed to give you a very funny blog post (that is, someone else’s very funny blog post) about food commentary circa 1872, in the form of letters to the NY Times about scrapple.

Over the next two weeks, the Times published more than two dozen letters on the subject of scrapple, which, taken together, form a sort of steampunk prototype for online food discussion. It’s all there: the pseudonymous “usernames,” the off-topic ranting, the preoccupation with pork fat. In short, it’s a modern-day food thread in very slow motion. … As always, the haters far outnumbered the fans: One reader declared that he’d just as soon fry bread in lard and eat it than partake in what others called an “abominable mess,” a “culinary fraud upon the stomach” and a great way to contract trichinosis.

Still working on Thanksgiving leftovers. Maybe I’ll make that soup tonight; I could certainly use it.