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Squeal! Scrapple gets its props

The Daily Meal names the dish to the list of "18 American Foods You Have to Travel For."

Scrapple - that Pennsylvania Dutch-rooted porcine delicacy that even adherents will admit is made from "everything but the oink" - has made The Daily Meal's list of "18 American Foods You Have to Travel For."

"A fried slice of mashed-together pig parts might not sound like your everyday breakfast item, but it is much loved in Pennsylvania Dutch country. Scrapple is traditionally made with a handful of pork scraps mixed with cornmeal or flour and spices, and pan-fried — for breakfast or just about any other time. Newcomers to scrapple might not find it in their best interest to ask exactly what the 'pork scraps' are."

The Daily Meal editors identified foods that "are so tied to a place that trying to re-create them or generate a passion behind them anywhere else would be a fool's errand."

Also on the list are Kolaches (the filled pastries from Texas Hill Country); bacon-wrapped Sonoran Hot Dog (Tucson, Ariz.); cornmeal-gruel Jonnycakes (Rhode Island); the stuffed bread pockets known as Runzas (Lincoln, Neb.); the pork/beef sausages called Half-Smokes (Washington D.C.); Gilroy Garlic Fries (from San Francisco's AT&T Park); whoopie pies (Maine); Rocky Mountain Oysters (Colorado); Hoosier Pie (Indiana); Cheese Curds (Wisconsin); the Spam/egg/gravy-topped burger known as a Loco Moco (Hawaii); Cincinnati Chili (Ohio); Frogmore Stew (South Carolina); Fry Bread (Arizona); Pasties (Upper Michigan); the stew called Burgoo (Kentucky); and the casserole called Hotdish (Minnesota).

If you want a great sampling of Pennsylvania specialties (scrapple, too), visit Sunday, April 1's inaugural Philly Farm and Food Fest at the Pennsylvania Convention Center Annex.