The author of the following is my new hero of American literature:
To the Editor of the New-York Times:
Let a few of your economists try the following recipe and they will find it is all it is cracked up to be: Take a calf’s left hind leg and let it hang until it will just stay hung without falling, then take it down, after cutting the bone out chop the meat into pieces about the size of a walnut, put them on the roof in a rain-storm for twenty-four hours, after which (if a cat don’t get them) boil with a pound of licorice-root, let the lot gently simmer for a few minutes and then add a paper of Lorillard’s century tobacco with a little old rye whisky, and you will have the meanest mess under the sun except scrapple.
Great article because (1) scrapple is great, and (2) the article shows human nature to be a constant: "[a] 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."
The actual recipe for scrapple (simmer a cleaned pigs head in broth, pick the meat off, return it to the (now) stock, and cook down) is pretty close to the recipe for Testa, italian "head cheese" (leave out the corn or graham or whatever, and let it set up in its own gelatin).
A staple of charcuterie boards at upscale restaurants. If I had a good source of pig heads, I'd definitely make one; it's really good. The meat from the pig head is really nice, and nothing at all like offal, which grosses me out.
I'm not sure whether you're in NYC or Chicago, but http://www.fleishers.com/ is one of the best NY butchers with local, grass-fed beef & local pork & such. I've gotten a pig's head there for some coppa di testa.
Off topic: I see you're looking for a rails developer in NYC, would that perhaps extend to a rails intern? I'll shoot you an e-mail about this.
To the Editor of the New-York Times:
Let a few of your economists try the following recipe and they will find it is all it is cracked up to be: Take a calf’s left hind leg and let it hang until it will just stay hung without falling, then take it down, after cutting the bone out chop the meat into pieces about the size of a walnut, put them on the roof in a rain-storm for twenty-four hours, after which (if a cat don’t get them) boil with a pound of licorice-root, let the lot gently simmer for a few minutes and then add a paper of Lorillard’s century tobacco with a little old rye whisky, and you will have the meanest mess under the sun except scrapple.
ANTI-SCRAPPLE