Philadelphia’s taste for gritty culinary traditions and unlikely artistic mediums was on display at Reading Terminal Market’s second annual Scrapple Sculpting Contest . The event invited artists and enthusiasts to transform five-pound blocks of scrapple into creative sculptures, celebrating both the delicacy and the city itself.

This uniquely Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast meat has been a local favorite for well over a century, with the first recipes appearing in the Philadelphia region. Traditionally made from leftover pork, cornmeal, and a blend of spices, scrapple was a way to avoid waste by turning less-favored pork parts into a hearty meal.

Only in Philadelphia would a five-pound block of pork scraps become a blank canvas at the Scrapple Sculpting Contest. (Hanbit Kwon for Billy Pen

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