Allison Davis
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Scrapple, one of Delaware's
culinary delicacies, was originally made on the farm from scraps leftover
at hog killing time. On Delaware farms, late fall was the season to
butcher the hogs on the farm to produce the hams, chops, roasts, sausages,
and lard the family would eat over the next year. What remained-"everything
but the squeal"-was used to make scrapple. Allison Davis, who
was raised in Staytonville in Sussex County, recalled that his family
killed four hogs and kept them all winter in their meathouse. Later,
Davis used the skills he learned growing up on the farm by working
as a butcher.
Hog killing was not only a necessary chore on the farm, it was a social event. Families would join one another for several days at a time to help with the work of scalding, scraping, cutting up, salting down, curing, grinding, boiling, cooking and smoking. Despite all of the labor involved, hog killing time is fondly remembered by most Delawareans raised on a farm in the early 1900s. This traditional farm event rarely takes place today. |
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