The First Delaware Scrapple Tour: Episode 2: Williamsville Country Store Williamsville, Delaware

After I left the Smyrna Diner, I started looking for another scrapple sandwich. The choices were limited, as most top scrapple places close by 3:00 pm. I checked my notes and headed for Williamsville and the Williamsville Country Store.

Williamsville is in the metaphorical middle of nowhere. It’s actually set between two fair-sized towns, Milford and Harrington, but it’s on a back road and surrounded by open cropland, but stark and bare on a winter day. Inside, the store is mainly a grill and a lot of snacks, and a small seating area,

but there’s also a connected room with a separate entrance off to the side that’s full of fishing and hunting gear.

I went in and up to the counter and announced my desire for a scrapple sandwich. Yes — well, let me check. She checked and found that they did have some but they usually don’t serve breakfast after noon. I apologized and, feeling that I’d caused enough trouble, I just had the scrapple (I mean she’d gone to the trouble to get it out and the griddle was hot) and skipped the egg and cheese. And here it is with an overhead shot,

and a side view.

What a difference from the scrapple at the Smyrna Diner! And what a crust! Maillard would be proud. It almost looks burnt, but it wasn’t. It had no acrid burn flavor, just crisp pork parts and seasoning. The flavor was much like that of a country sausage when you cut it thin and cook it in cast iron to get that deep, deep crust. I do think that as a sandwich the addition of an egg and cheese would have given it a better overall flavor and the variety of texture that’s so often key, but I have no complaints. The sandwich cost me $4.99. The egg would have added $2.00, and they charge 50 cents for cheese. I love it.

As I was leaving, I asked and was told that the scrapple was Hughes. I didn’t realize that Hughes makes a variety of sub-brands, so which type of Hughes is a mystery. I also noticed that they had a goulash special. I’m a fan of goulash but I don’t see it much. Dear used to make it often when I was growing up, although she’d never been to Hungary then and there are no known Hungarians in the family closet–I mean tree–but it was delicious. Like most goulash I’ve seen in the US, what she made actually was pörkölt, a stew. Gulyash, as the Hungarians insist in spelling it, is very soupy. I seriously considered getting some. My heart said, “Yes! Yes!” my brain said “No! No!” and my eyes kept quiet without a photograph of the dish, so my brain scored a rare victory.

I appreciate the good folks at Williamsville for making an exception for me. I tend to disrupt systems, and people often aren’t so accommodating. Hats off to the Williamsville Country Store, and to their scrapple. You should go try some. Before noon.

***

And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box. Or bookmark us and check in from time to time. We’re on  Instagram  (johntannerbbq) and X/Twitter (johntannerbbq1). If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre, Prague Castle, Vienna’s Old City, or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event.  We welcome comments and questions, and eagerly seek suggestions of places to eat and stories to cover.