James Buchanan: President, Pennsylvanian, Scrapple Lover

Written by Adam Gerard | September 4, 2012 at 9:30 PM | 0 Comments

Written by Adam Gerard | September 4, 2012 at 9:30 PM | 0 Comments

James Buchanan: President, Pennsylvanian, Scrapple Lover


President James Buchanan was a scrapple loverIt's election season which, of course, got me thinking about scrapple. (but really, when am I not thinking about scrapple?)

Anyway, I wondered, have any of our Presidents been scrapple lovers?

I'm sure, of the 44 that have lived in the White House, several of them have enjoyed a slice or two of scrapple. But it looks like the only US President with any real evidence of eating scrapple in the White House is our 15th, President James Buchanan. 

From Sarah Marshall's All the Presidents' Menus post:

While compiling this list I attempted as often as possible to learn not what the presidents ate at state functions and inaugural dinners but during their solitary breakfasts and family suppers—in other words, their comfort foods.

James Buchanan: Beef, mutton, venison, ham, terrapin, calf’s head dressed as terrapin, Pennsylvania Dutch specialties such as scrapple and succotash, moss rose cake, peach charlotte, Confederate pudding and Jeff Davis pie, grape pie, and ice cream.

This makes sense since he is also our only President from Pennsylvania, a state that knows a thing or two about scrapple. From PA to DC, Buchanan proudly brought one of his boyhood comfort foods along.

Now, I don't claim to be a history buff — most of what I'm learning about James Buchanan I'm picking up from Wikipedia — but it seems that the downfall of his presidency was his inability to bring peace between the north and the south. I can't help but wonder how our country's history might be different if Buchanan had looked to his roots during times of trouble and brought everyone together over a warm plate of scrapple and eggs (maple syrup optional). Alas...

Do you have any interesting history tidbits on scrapple and US Presidents? Tell us in the comments!

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Topics: eating scrapple, scrapple history

Adam Gerard

Adam Gerard has been mildly obsessed with scrapple ever since he was introduced to it at the age of 15.

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