“For a long time, anytime I had the opportunity to write about Pennsylvania Dutch culture and the food of my culture – I would,” said Amy Strauss, food and drink writer. Her first book, “Pennsylvania Scrapple: A Delectable History” hit bookshelves on Monday, Oct. 9.

Strauss, a Barto native and 2003 graduate of Boyertown Area Senior High School, has been heavily covering the Philadelphia food scene for the past 10 years since college and recently drew the attention of a local publisher through the power of social media, writes Rebecca Blanchard for The Phoenix Reporter & Item.

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“It just so happens that the acquisitions editor of my publishing company, Arcadia Publishing, happened to find me, researched me and all of the Pennsylvania Dutch articles I wrote about. She approached me about writing a book about Scrapple.”

The book addresses the history of Scrapple, how it’s prepared, and opinions on how it should and shouldn’t be served.

“I kind of did a natural arc of scrapple. I did a huge exploration of the history of it – how it came to America and how it became what it is today. Then I travel to current day, so I talk about how different chefs really have clung onto it to keep it as a trendy breakfast staple and the different unique things chefs have done with it to keep it in the public eye.”

She uncovered some likely unknown facts about the popular, regional breakfast meat – such as the effort to mass produce it and how in the late 1800s, a man wrote to the “New York Times” about it. Strauss said the letter prompted quite the discussion; the newspaper published letters about scrapple for weeks and eventually even published a recipe for it.

The book also includes a personal story about making 300 pounds of Scrapple on a friend’s family farm.

To read the complete story click here. 

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