Wally reclines among the winter squash at Fair Food.

Photo l Felicia D’Ambrosio

A cook friend and I were discussing vegan-izing recipes the other day. He is a rather strict vegetarian, and was a vegan for years. “To make, say, a seven-ingredient recipe vegan, it will take at least 20 ingredients,” he said, adding that eggs are the hardest to replicate, and that’s why vegan baking can be very challenging. “That’s why meat substitutes have such texture issues,” I thought to myself. I never seem to enjoy meat substitutes. From spongy soy to heavy, soggy seitan, their textures are always so disappointing, no matter how assiduously flavor is applied. 

The very next morning, I was shopping at the Reading Terminal Market’s  Fair Food Farmstand (soon to take over the primo former Rick’s Steaks real estate) and spied a familiar-looking block with an unfamiliar label: Vrapple. A cheerful pig in a chef hat grinned out, next to the legend Vrapple: The Vegan Breakfast Treat. Wally says, “We kick the crap out of scrapple!” 

With a tagline like that, I had to try it.

Sarah Cain is the evil genius behind Sarah’s Savories, which produces Vrapple. When a vegan friend pined to Sarah that she missed the hometown pig-part treat, Cain began ruminating on ways to reproduce the porky patty. Her final product is constructed from a base of organic mushrooms, wheat gluten, cornmeal, buckwheat flour, a touch of organic cane sugar and plenty of black pepper. The breakfast non-meat is sold in familiar scrapple-ish blocks, frozen for freshness. 

Once defrosted, I sliced my Vrapple in to serving-size slices, and fried it in canola oil in a very hot pan until both sides were crispy and browned. I forked off a piece of the hot meat substitute, closed my eyes and took the plunge. 

It is freaking delicious. It’s BETTER than scrapple. The crisp outside and soft inside perfectly mimic scrapple’s characteristic texture. The slice yields immediately under fork and tooth pressure and has a meaty, mushroomy base and a sweet, peppery finish. It is satisfyingly spicy and rich. It was so good I stopped writing my impressions to fry myself another slice. A splash of organic Grade B maple syrup took the already-delightful Vrapple to an even more decadent place. I could not believe how good it was.

Cain has converted me to actually preferring one meat substitute to the real thing. As Wally, the pig mascot, smiles out of the package at me, I grin back, pleased to feel so virtuous while eating something so tasty. Then I go back for another slice.

Vrapple is available at the Fair Food Farmstand in the Reading Terminal Market at 12th and Arch streets, 215-627-2029.  It is sold by weight at an average of $5-$10 per frozen block.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 22nd, 2008 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Product Placement, Vegan/Vegetarian. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.