A classic New Jersey staple: Pork Roll.

October 14, 2014 10:51 AM

What is pork roll most people not from New Jersey/Philly might ask? Pork roll (also known as taylor ham, though this a matter of some contention) is a form of processed meat that is a breakfast favorite of the New Jersey and Philly region.

Relatively unknown in the rest of the country but beloved by locals, pork roll is the key ingredient in a Jersey breakfast.

Available in rolls, or pre-cut slices pork roll is usually pan fried to a crispy finish. Just make sure to cut notches in it so it remains flat. Schools of notch cutting vary, some preferring the pac-man others the firemans's badge.

While not available in stores in most of the US it is available to have shipped from several sources or if you are feeling adventurous perhaps you would like to try making your own?

posted by Ferreous (68 comments total)

Pork roll, egg, and cheese on a kaiser bun.
posted by Huck500 at 10:56 AM on October 14, 2014 [16 favorites]

Making a pork roll was the first "real" thing I was taught to cook and the first thing I taught my younger brother. NJ REPRESENT.

Mustard and butter! Not ketchup.
posted by The Whelk at 10:56 AM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

When the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act was passed, Taylor’s treat didn’t pass the definition of “ham,” and thus the word “pork roll” was invented.

O brave new world, that has such meat by-products in't.
posted by sobarel at 10:57 AM on October 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

Oh, the spicy excellence. Fireman's badge here. On Kaiser with catsup or plain. They served it in our middle school lunchroom on... Thursdays? 'Cause I know Friday was pizza day.
posted by joecacti at 10:57 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Badge cut is clearly superior as it mitigates the pork roll noob complaint factor wherein heated and often drunken accusations are made wrt missing chunks of pork roll.
posted by poffin boffin at 10:58 AM on October 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

In central NJ we just called them hard rolls. They're surprisingly hard to find in the rest of the US.
posted by Ferreous at 10:59 AM on October 14, 2014 [5 favorites]

How different is it from bologna?
posted by sonic meat machine at 11:00 AM on October 14, 2014

Good lord, so that's what someone keeps putting in the office fridge. It was baffling how meat that looked as though it had been lying around for a week would appear there in the morning.
posted by Doktor Zed at 11:01 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

It's a bit more tangy and has a much more defined pork taste.
posted by Ferreous at 11:01 AM on October 14, 2014

How different is it from bologna?

It's more porky in the way that suggests a higher content of pork odds and ends to me.
posted by poffin boffin at 11:06 AM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

A bit like a cross between Spam and those little fermented Thai sausages then? I'm straining the limits of my encased-pork imagination here.
posted by sobarel at 11:08 AM on October 14, 2014

This thread's theme song
posted by The Whelk at 11:09 AM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

Badge cut is clearly superior as it mitigates the pork roll noob complaint factor

That is hilarious, as noob who has never seen this stuff before I was about to remark on how the Pac-Man notch is way too large for merely accomplishing the purpose of keeping it flat and would result in a big no-pork-roll bite of sandwich.
posted by Hoopo at 11:10 AM on October 14, 2014

(It starts out as just a slash on one side but shrinks into a pac-man sized gap.)
posted by poffin boffin at 11:12 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

You could interlock two pac men (or pac-ladies if you prefer) in a passionate embrace, thereby providing solid pork contiguousity and a touch of erotic frisson to your repast.
posted by sobarel at 11:13 AM on October 14, 2014 [14 favorites]

Huh, you know despite growing up on scrapple and hoagies I think I somehow missed out on ever having pork roll. I may have to consider adding it to my "new experiences excepted from vegetarianism for one try" list.
posted by Drinky Die at 11:13 AM on October 14, 2014

You could interlock two pac men (or pac-ladies if you prefer) in a passionate embrace, thereby providing solid pork contiguousity and a touch of erotic frisson.

Please keep these comments on Rule34Filter.
posted by GenjiandProust at 11:16 AM on October 14, 2014 [4 favorites]

I grew up with Pork Roll in Philly. Good stuff. One of my favorite things I ever cooked was a dish of Pork Roll Fried Rice one lazy evening. I gotta do that again.
posted by SansPoint at 11:20 AM on October 14, 2014

In central NJ we just called them hard rolls. They're surprisingly hard to find in the rest of the US.

Oh god, yes. I would kill for a source of good hard rolls in Western Pennsylvania.
posted by octothorpe at 11:21 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

octothorpe: Oh god, yes. I would kill for a source of good hard rolls in Western Pennsylvania.

What's wrong, chipped chopped ham not good enough for you?

(I kid. Pork roll > any western PA-specific meat I've had out here.)
posted by tonycpsu at 11:36 AM on October 14, 2014

It's okay guys, you still have souse.
posted by Ferreous at 11:40 AM on October 14, 2014

Also for you west PA freaks, the wegmans in Erie last time I was there (2012) sold pork roll. Don't know if they still have it, but if you're up by the lake, can't hurt to check.
posted by Ferreous at 11:43 AM on October 14, 2014

When ever friends and family visit from back east and ask what they should bring it's always pork roll, white American cheese and pretzels.
posted by alamedarchy at 11:45 AM on October 14, 2014

I've never had it but I bet it's delicious cut into strips and mixed with scrambled eggs, like hard Jewish salami.
posted by Room 641-A at 11:45 AM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

It sounds like Ulster Fry to me.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 11:58 AM on October 14, 2014

There was a time in my life when I would've hopped in the car RIGHT NOW for a drive to New Jersey to seek out a new and exciting form of processed meet. Nowadays I worry about things like what impact the apple I just ate will have on my blood sugar. IT WAS A HONEYCRISP AND DAMMIT IT WAS WORTH EVERY BITE.
posted by slogger at 12:01 PM on October 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

Dammit, Ferreous, I was gonna do a post on this!

(Good job, though.)
posted by ZenMasterThis at 12:14 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Let me see if I understand this. Of all the many dozens of varieties of cold cuts available at delis and meat shops nationwide, none of them are good enough for New Jersey? They have to have their own thing, that nobody else can get?

And also: how has pork roll not found its way onto the Hardee's/Carl's Jr. breakfast menu yet? It sounds like a perfect heart-healthy fit for them. They already have a fried bologna breakfast sandwich, for crying out sake.
posted by Flexagon at 12:25 PM on October 14, 2014

Untoasted hard roll with cold butter from a construction lunch truck. Yum, my childhood.
posted by smackfu at 12:26 PM on October 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

We, along with a few other states, are also the only people with wawa so there's that too.
posted by Ferreous at 12:39 PM on October 14, 2014 [3 favorites]

When I lived in Lambertville, the firehouse had Friday cookouts where they served Fireman Burgers--cheeseburgers topped with porkroll--and you better believe it was cut fireman's badge style.
posted by whuppy at 12:58 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

I grew up in Bucks County, so it was pretty much where Taylor Pork Roll met scrapple. Yet, I had pork roll more as a lunch/dinner thing than a breakfast. Whereas I only ever had scrapple for breakfast.
posted by inturnaround at 1:07 PM on October 14, 2014

Ferreous, where WaWa begins, New Jersey ends. That South Jersey water trash is Eagles country, and it is only part of New Jersey during three months of the summer when real New Jerseyans migrate south to get piss drunk at the beach. During no other time is South Jersey actually a part of New Jersey.

On an relevant note, they have Taylor Ham at grocery stores in Arizona! A lot of the places that sell Boars Head meat have Taylor Ham, here. They must have the same distributor.
posted by john the fourth at 1:14 PM on October 14, 2014

So after this thread, I'm ready to hop into my car and drive the six hours to Jersey to find a fried egg and Taylor Ham sandwich on a hard roll.
posted by octothorpe at 1:16 PM on October 14, 2014

You realize, of course, that South Jersey's the good part?
posted by whuppy at 1:17 PM on October 14, 2014 [4 favorites]

Growing up in New Jersey I took it for granted. Luckily in LA there's a butcher that actually carries it... and now I will go get some.
posted by Derek at 1:20 PM on October 14, 2014

South/central Jersey is great except for the 3 months where it becomes a playground for people who just want to get drunk and trash the joint.
posted by Ferreous at 1:20 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Wegmans Rochester carries it. Mom was from NJ so I grew up eating it. I buy it all the time and yes, it is a wonder in scrambled eggs.

I always have a chunk of it frozen in my freezer, and one day I lazied out on my split pea soup and used taylor ham instead of regular ham. Revelation.
posted by oflinkey at 2:18 PM on October 14, 2014

I see it at King Soopers in Boulder, but I haven't bought one yet. Maybe I will now.
posted by Bruce H. at 2:36 PM on October 14, 2014

Someone should prolly post a Jersey pork roll meetup.
posted by poffin boffin at 2:42 PM on October 14, 2014

Was this in a Rick Sebak documentary? I feel like it was.
posted by pxe2000 at 3:03 PM on October 14, 2014

I've spent my whole life (baring vacations) somewhere between New York City and Philadelphia. I knew that it was mainly a NJ thing, but I never realized that most of the country didn't know it existed.

Also I'm with you john the fourth. WaWa is great, but not a Jersey thing as far as I am concerned.
posted by tnecniv at 3:06 PM on October 14, 2014

It is available at the deli counter of the upscale Kowalksi's market in St. Paul, Minnesota.
posted by jadepearl at 3:14 PM on October 14, 2014

I've never quite realized the important-to-me ways my Midwestern upbringing has held me back until this very thread.

(barely exaggerating)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 3:57 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

Typical USA centric bollocks. A pork roll is a delicious Vietnamese lunch roll, with pork, pate, coriander, chillies in a crusty French roll. Don't pay more than $4 for one in Springvale or Footscray.
posted by wilful at 4:32 PM on October 14, 2014 [1 favorite]

My grandmother used to freeze and ship pork roll to us in Atlanta. Although, being thrifty, she would sometimes buy the Pathmark brand, which was not really the same thing. Now I can buy it in my grocery store here in the Atlanta 'burbs.

Although the closest thing I can get to a real hard roll is a Publix "Chicago style roll." Then again, Parnes is out in Woodbridge now and Sipos' isn't what it used to be according to my uncle.

Either way, I'm with The Whelk. Mustard or butter at breakfast time. Ketchup? No. Never.
posted by ob1quixote at 4:46 PM on October 14, 2014

Until this moment, I didn't realize that pork roll was only a regional thing.

I'm from Maryland, not NJ or Philadelphia, but my dad is from Baltimore so maybe that is close enough? How to cook pork roll was the only culinary achievement my father passed down to me. And according to PapaSue, the only correct way to do so is to cut the slice in half, and add two hash marks to each half (which, based on five minutes of google searching, appears to be something that no one else does, so thanks for the innovation Dad?).
posted by CharlieSue at 5:20 PM on October 14, 2014

Pork roll is great, but it's no scrapple.
posted by amro at 5:41 PM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

Pork roll is great, but it's no scrapple.


THAT'S FOR DANG SURE!!!



Metafilter: It's more porky in the way that suggests a higher content of pork odds and ends to me.

Excuse me. I'm leaving right now...
posted by BlueHorse at 5:48 PM on October 14, 2014

Badge cut is how we always did fried bologna in SW Ohio. Blackened edges and a splotch of mustard and a slice of "cheese", maybe an onion slice if we were feeling fancy. Takes me right back to the days of the recession and getting all our veggies from black and white labeled cans. I'll have to check with Publix and have them special order some of this Taylor Ham stuff to see how it goes.

And Orlando, Fl. now has Wawa. I love the place but do the ones up north require a large stack of napkins to clean up with after practically every sandwich?
posted by mcrandello at 6:05 PM on October 14, 2014

Man, this takes me back to my teens and starting to have disposable income. I remember the guy on the line yelling "SALTPEPPERKETCHUP?" at me the first time and I had to have him repeat it because I didn't understand. I felt badass whenever I ordered a Taylor Ham and cheese on a roll, saltpepperketchup thereafter. I knew what I was doing! I was an adult! I had $5 in my pocket and I'm getting a sandwich and I AM LIVING LIFE LIKE A GROWN UP.
posted by spec80 at 6:44 PM on October 14, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm not sure why, but we've always been able to find it here in Virginia Beach. It's probably because of how many military families from up North are here. It's hard to describe what makes it so tasty, but I'd describe it as a subtle pickled flavor, and it's more lean than Bologna with much larger cuts of meat in it. It almost reminds me of a larger, milder cousin of Linguica.
posted by gimli at 6:55 PM on October 14, 2014

Sounds a little like tongue. (That's good.)
posted by Room 641-A at 7:15 PM on October 14, 2014

Untoasted hard roll with cold butter from a construction lunch truck. Yum, my childhood.

See, the thing is, some schnoock got up at 2am to commute an hour so they could get those baked and out of the oven for us. Toasting is what you do to day-old bread.

THANK YOU, Guy who got up at 2am to bake me a hard-roll! I know you don't hear it often, but *I* really do appreciate it.
posted by mikelieman at 8:04 PM on October 14, 2014

Smells like sweat when you fry pork roll.
posted by Peach at 8:24 PM on October 14, 2014

Relevant AskMe: Essentially New Jersey?
posted by The Whelk at 9:05 PM on October 14, 2014

Frank, give me a pork roll, egg, and cheese, if you please, with some gravy fries.
posted by Robin Kestrel at 10:36 PM on October 14, 2014

Speaking from the perspective of a one-time cook in Chambersburg, Trenton (home of pork roll):

First, Case's, not Taylor.

For a traditional breakfast, it's pork roll, egg, and cheese (american) on a half hoagie roll.
However, a Farmer's Omelet with pork roll instead of ham is also excellent.

Traditional lunch is pork roll and cheese with mustard on a kaiser roll.
After years of experimentation, I settled on pork roll and Swiss (yes, Swiss godammit) on white bread with mayo and mustard.
posted by qldaddy at 9:09 AM on October 15, 2014

I too am from Bucks County, and didn't know there was any other way than "badge cut." I didn't even know it had a name until now. It's just the way you do it. And for some reason the Safeway where I live in DC carries it, so I'm never far from home.

WaWa is great, but not a Jersey thing as far as I am concerned.

Clearly not! There's only one capital W in the real thing.
posted by zap rowsdower at 10:09 AM on October 15, 2014

Wow this solved a nearly lifelong mystery for me. When I was a kid my grandmother in NJ would make us this mysterious "Taylor Ham" when we came to visit, but I could never find it in the stores when we returned home to the south and this confused and frustrated me to no end, right up to my adulthood.

At some point I guessed it was because of regional differences, but I never realized this was specifically a NJ thing!

MeFi: constantly answering questions you forgot you wanted to ask.
posted by unknownmosquito at 3:15 PM on October 15, 2014 [2 favorites]

None of us felt like cooking, so we just had pork roll for dinner. On white bread because, like I said, you can't really get decent hard rolls in the Atlanta 'burbs.
posted by ob1quixote at 5:04 PM on October 15, 2014

You might be from Mercer County NJ if... At barbecues you eat Trenton burgers (cheeseburgers topped with pork roll) and play quoits.
posted by amro at 7:03 PM on October 15, 2014

I'm an Okie girl married to a North NJ boy, so I know and love Taylor Ham. You can't imagine the happy dance I witnessed when we found it at the grocery store here in VA. Or maybe you can? :)
posted by moosedogtoo at 8:59 PM on October 15, 2014

I should add that I cooked it the one correct way: Even medium-tawny across the whole slice. Which means three flips and a press down with a spatula as needed. Dad always turns the griddle up too high to make it cook faster but you get overcooked edges and raw, bulging middles that way. I did get a little too aggressive with the relief cuts, but in my defense I was hungry and in a hurry.
posted by ob1quixote at 9:09 PM on October 15, 2014

"where WaWa begins, New Jersey ends. That South Jersey water trash is Eagles country, and it is only part of New Jersey during three months of the summer when real New Jerseyans migrate south to get piss drunk at the beach. During no other time is South Jersey actually a part of New Jersey."

False. South Jersey is the real New Jersey. North Jersey is wannabe NYC with more gaudy housing stock.

(drops gloves)
posted by WeekendJen at 12:26 PM on October 16, 2014

North Jersey is basically a suburb of NYC - Central/South 4 Lyfe.
posted by The Whelk at 12:33 PM on October 16, 2014

....anyone mention Ween yet?
posted by Rev. Syung Myung Me at 4:47 PM on October 19, 2014

Ahem.

Serious Eats: Breakfast of Champions - Why New Jersey is Crazy for Pork Roll
posted by Room 641-A at 2:42 PM on November 3, 2014 [3 favorites]