Scrapple Sculpting Contest brings swine artists to Philly market

PHILADELPHIA -- You may not be able to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but on Thursday at Philadelphia's Reading Terminal Market, sculptors made the Rocky statue, a Philly soft pretzel, and so much more out of scrapple, the often-revered-and-sometimes-feared Pennsylvania Dutch dish made of pig scraps in a congealed loaf form.

Ten people from across the region spent 90 minutes going whole hog chiseling away at five-pound blocks of the grayish-brown meat matter with clay carving tools as part of Reading Terminal’s first-ever Scrapple Sculpting Contest.

As the contestants sculpted on two-person tabletops at the market’s Arch Court, Filbert — Reading Terminal’s inflatable pig mascot — worked the crowd and a jazz guitarist softly played hits like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.”

Passersby were curious and confounded by the event, with many stopping to ask what was happening and several following up with “What’s scrapple?”

“This is awesome! I had no idea what was going on at first. Is it cheese? Is it wood? Then I realized, oh, it’s breakfast food!” said Manon Riley of South Philly.

Kim Celano of Sicklerville said her mom, who lives in Lancaster, heard about the competition and asked her to stop by and send some photos.

“This is so great and it’s really fun,” Celano said. “Harrisburg has their butter sculpture every year and now we have this regional competition.”

The sculptors were given no guidance on what to make and no directions on how to work with scrapple as an artistic medium, so their creations were born sowlely from their own porcine dreams and gastronomic ingenuity.

Like Michelangelo, who believed his sculptures already existed within marble and just needed someone to set them free, these swine artisans pork chopped at the unnecessary bits of the scrapple blocks to reveal unexpected masterpieces within. The sculptures, in addition to those mentioned above, included one of Philly’s iconic Clothespin; two different piglets, a rendition of old LOVE Park (RIP), and one scrapple block that was carved into the letters and symbol “I ♥ U.”

The winner

The scraptures (scrapple + sculpture = scraptures, yes I made that up, do not take this from me) were judged on Thursday by Sherman Fleming, a local artist and curator who said he never imagined that scrapple “would lend itself to actual carving into art.” Fleming had 11 categories by which he scored the scrapple sculptures, including technical skill, aesthetic appeal, and emotional response.

“This was not easy, not only for you but also for me,” Fleming said to the contestants, before announcing the winner. “The sculptures came real close. I have a whole new appreciation for scrapple.”

Fleming awarded the top prize — a pig trophy named “Scrappy,” a Reading Terminal swag bag, and a $100 market gift card — to Jake Heller for his chicken vase with a removable head that could be taken off to reveal a hollow body inside of which Heller hid a small chicken egg (made of scrapple too, of course). He said he wanted to give the breakfast meat, which repurposes scraps, “even more purpose.”

In June, Heller won the Cheesemonger Invitational in Brooklyn and was named the best cheesemonger in the country, so it’s just been a year of Ws for the 28-year-old Narberth native.

“I feel like my life has really come together and led to this moment. Everything I’ve worked for has really been for this,” he said.

The Scrapple & Apple Festival

Following the contest, the scraptures were ushered to an undisclosed, refrigerated location to be stored until Saturday, when they’ll be displayed again at Reading Terminal’s inaugural Scrapple & Apple Festival. There, attendees will vote for their favorite sculpture of mystery meat to receive the popular vote award, which comes with the same prize pack.

From 2007 to 2013, Reading Terminal held an annual Scrapplefest, a day during which merchants and customers celebrated the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch dish also known as panhaas that’s served as a breakfast side at homes and restaurants in Pennsylvania, Delaware, and beyond.

It’s not clear why Scrapplefest was scrapped, but several current market merchants, including Rebecca Foxman, owner of Fox & Son Fair Foods, which carries a variety of gluten-free corncorn dogscently fought to bring it back. In 2013, Foxman won Scrapplefest’s cook-off with her scrapple panzanella and grapefruit-and-bacon-fat vinaigrette and thus, proudly remains the reigning champion.

When the festival was reimagined this year and apples were introduced as a dual headliner, at first Foxman — a “very, very passionate” scrapple fan — wondered why fruit had to elbow its way into this.

“I wasn’t on board with the apple part — I am now, I love it — but initially I was like ‘Why is scrapple not enough?’” she said.

Foxman said she loves the taste and texture of scrapple (”Is it bread? Is it meat? Who knows!”) and how it’s a dish that ensures nothing goes to waste.

“As someone who is in the food industry, I have an appreciation for things that are made with scraps and taste like liver,” she said.

When asked to describe scrapple, Foxman said it’s “everything-but-the-oink cake,” and “Liver-y corn bread” made with scraps of ground pork combined with spices, cornmeal, and buckwheat. It comes in a rectangular loaf form and pieces are typically sliced off like bread and pan fried.

But according to Foxman, like a hot dog, scrapple is more about the form and spices than the meat, and there are many variations of it including fish, vegan, and turkey scrapple.

“I am obsessed with scrapple and I think anyone who doesn’t like it is weird and doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” she said. “Then again, I make money selling hot dogs.”

At Saturday’s festival, items made with scrapple will include cookies, cheesesteaks, cheeseboats, butter, fries, hush puppies, flatbread, shortbread, po’boys, bloody marys, and scrapple apple pies. Among the apple-related items will be churros, homemade hand pies, macarons, tiramisu, milk shakes, and soda floats.

Instead of a scrapple cook-off this year, organizers decided to hold the Scrapple Sculpture Contest because they wanted to do something that was exciting and “would show scrapple in another light — as a great medium to carve,” Foxman said. Gordon Food Service donated the scrapple blocks.

The artisans, many of whom found out about the contest from Reading Terminal’s Instagram account, signed up through an online form, with all 10 spaces filling quickly, Foxman said.

The contestants ranged from novices who’d never sculpted anything before and did not practice, like Michelle Bradbury, 39, of Mount Laurel who made a great Philly soft pretzel (with salt!) to Christianne Kapps, 57, of West Philly, who has an MFA in sculpture and practiced with a pound of scrapple at her home ahead of the competition. Kapps’ sculpture of Philly’s Clothespin sculpture was wonderful, but had to be laid on its side because “gravity is not scrapple’s friend.”

Skateboarder Ennui McIntyre, 27, of Germantown, said he was never old enough to go to old LOVE Park when it was a skateboard haven so he wanted to recreate it in scrapple form. McIntrye was surprised that the consistency of the scrapple was not as “crumbly” as he expected. Heller, the champion, said he too was surprised at how “rigid” and “semi-firm” the scrapple was and how there were “large chunks of grain in there.”

Thankfully, because the scrapple was not cooked and the market was not sweltering, the scrapple blocks and sculptures did not smell.

After the second round of judging by popular vote at the Scrapple & Apple Festival on Saturday, the sculptures will be composted with Mother Compost, unless someone feels extremely passionate about theirs and wants to take it home. But they probably shouldn’t and they definitely should not eat it.