My parents just went on a road trip through PA and NJ and VA visiting old friends, and they brought back some treasures.
Snapper soup from Ponzio’s diner, drizzled with sherry: goopy and brown and savory and delicious, just the way I remember it from childhood. Apparently the diner we used to go to has changed hands and no longer makes the soup, but there’s a vaguely affiliated alternate location elsewhere, so disaster was averted.
Scrapples: Dietz & Watson, Hatfield, Ed Hipp’s (made of turkey not pork), and Habbersett. Habbersett was the traditional one we used to get, but surprisingly we found that to be the blandest and starchiest of the 4. The turkey scrapple was remarkably good, so pork-avoiders should seek out Mr. Hipp’s product and enjoy. I liked the Hatfield and the Dietz & Watson the best, as they were most flavorful. All of these 4 were milder and less liver-rific than others I have eaten, and even the tallasiandude liked these pretty well.
Taylor Pork Roll: Presliced thick or thin and ready to go. Comes in the best retro packaging ever; I really should make the extra effort to get a picture up. Pink and porky and full of nitrates and delicious when fried golden in a pan.
Lebanon bologna & sweet bologna: hard sausages, classic with a sweet or spicy mustard and a cracker. We love a smoky in-your-face Lebanon bologna, but the sweet bologna was a surprise hit.
dill pickle Route 11 chips: DUH.
peanut butter opera fudge balls: apparently a regional favorite. Soft and velvety centers with a slight peanutty flavor, dipped in chocolate. They are downright delicate, almost like the fudge is made with confectioner’s sugar.
souse: head cheese pickled in vinegar. Not bad, soft in texture, lightly spicy, and not too many gnarly bits. Good dipped in dijon mustard, but not especially compelling.
relish from Rutt’s Hut: yellow, smushy, slightly sweet & tangy cabbage-based relish. Spectacular with the Lebanon & sweet bolognas.