New Jersey’s Pork Roll-Taylor Ham Wars
In this episode of
The Sporkful, we talk with a bunch of locals, a pork roll historian, and comedian Chris Gethard to find out what this food is, why it's so important to the people of New Jersey, and why they can't stop fighting about it.
And one thing you have to understand off the bat is that most of New Jersey is either part of the New York metro area or the Philadelphia metro area. So New Jerseyans are very proud of the things that are distinctly New Jersey. And pork roll is one of them. It's hickory smoked and cured with sugar so it's salty, sweet, and smoky.
The iconic way to eat it is on an egg and cheese sandwich. Here's Dan's Taylor ham egg and cheese with eggs over medium, just the way he likes it. This one came from Daphne's Diner of Robbinsville, NJ, where they actually call it pork roll:
The pork roll-Taylor ham divide is regional. Like Chris, Dan's from northern New Jersey, so he grew up calling it Taylor ham. Based on a poll on
NJ.com, the state breaks down like this:
Pork Roll or Taylor Ham? New Jersians, what say you?