Pork rolls, sometimes known as Taylor ham, have been a staple in New Jersey since they were babies. Sliced meat’s popularity endured into adolescence, when it was the ultimate hangover remedy, and into adulthood, when lavish lunches were often neglected in favor of perfectly grilled meats, such as sausage on a roll. It’s mentioned alongside the bacon, ham and breakfast sausage on restaurant menus as a decent meat option. Every year, the Pork Roll Festival is celebrated in New Jersey in his honor; in fact, rival pork roll festivals are held statewide. Everything you need to know about Taylor’s pork/ham rolls is here.
Pork roll/Taylor ham is a processed smoked pork product that is produced with a combination of seasonings, salt, sugar preservatives, and preservatives. The original name of this product was “Original Taylor Pork Roll” John Taylor, according to the manufacturer, Taylor Provisions of Trenton, NJ, because it was originally only available in a tube-like casing. Even though other companies make them (Case Pork Roll Company, Kohler Provisions), Taylor Provisions is the real thing, and Jerseyans will tell you all other brands are fake.
Although there is a legend that Union soldiers brought pork buns into battle during the Civil War, the product was officially created in 1856. According to all sources, John Taylor, a state senator and well-known businessman from Hamilton Square, New Jersey, named his product “Taylor’s.” Prepared Ham” at the beginning. Because it didn’t fit the new definition of “ham” defined by the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, Taylor was forced to omit the “ham” component of the name. Taylor unsuccessfully tried the “pork roll” trademark to protect his idea from competitors not long after.
The Taylor Pork Roll is still the most popular and widely available pork roll in the state.
In the form of a pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, it can be found in almost every bagel shop, grocery store, or restaurant in New Jersey. In New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and parts of Maryland, packaged meat can be found in almost any supermarket or corner store.
A regular Taylor ham, egg, and cheese sandwich costs about $3.50 or $4, depending on the region; a six-ounce bag of pork rolls from the grocery store costs about $4.
Pork roll or Taylor ham is sold sliced and unsliced, but always sliced before frying, grilling, or baking.
To prevent the meat from curling up while cooking, make four to six slices from the outer edge inward in each slice.
It looks a bit like Canadian bacon before it’s cooked, but don’t make this connection in front of anyone from New Jersey. Meat is almost always served as part of a breakfast sandwich after it is cooked.
Pork roll (or Taylor ham), eggs, and cheese are the most common ingredients in New Jersey’s most popular breakfast sandwich. This sandwich can be served on a croissant, English muffin, or packed between two carbohydrate-packed ends, but is usually served with a bagel (another Jersey staple).
Nowadays it is sometimes used for nostalgia because it is a popular regional staple and for its uniqueness. Taylor ham is on the menu at the Ivan Ramen Slurp Shop in New York City, and is served over a delicious bowl of ramen noodles.
After removing the word “ham” from his name in the early 1900s, John Taylor revised his label to “Taylor Taylor’s Real Pork Roll”. However, this is too long for the fast-talking Jersey resident.
Is Taylor ham the equivalent of Spam
The setting: The country is full of regional cuisine, and New Jersey has more than its fair share. “New Jersey is America’s most appetizing state, with a more rich, diverse and passionate food culture than big names like California and New York,” according to Saveur, who dedicated a month to Garden State. While people enjoy crispy fried hot dogs and there’s a large and wonderful Portuguese culinary culture in New Jersey, no food screams New Jersey as loud as Taylor ham, sometimes known as rolls.
Trenton resident John Taylor created his namesake dish in 1856, and it has remained very popular in the area ever since. Taylor ham was eventually renamed Taylor pork roll (though no one called it that) because it wasn’t really ham, and competitors developed it, promoting only pork roll. When you order Taylor’s ham in Jersey, you receive a pork roll. After all, it is a processed pork product similar to Spam that comes in a cylindrical deli “bun” with a very homogeneous whitish appearance, similar to the domestic “bologna” (a pale imitation replica of the original Italian sausage of the same name). It is sliced thinly like other deli meats and then fried or grilled, with the most common application being on breakfast sandwiches in place of Canadian bacon, ham, or bacon. Small notches are cut into the edges of the slices so they don’t curl up like pepperoni on pizza. This “Jersey Breakfast” is so popular here that one of my friends laments the lack of Taylor’s breakfast sandwiches across the country. I visited him to find out why.
The food: “You should only eat it on a roll, with eggs and cheese,” suggested one of the four women at the next booth at the Summit Diner in Summit, NJ, the heart of my Jersey friend Taylor’s ham experience. “So good on a bagel,” one of his boothmates immediately retorted. “If you have it in a bagel, the bagel MUST be baked,” said a third. “I love English muffins,” said the fourth.
Returning to our seats, my friend’s teenage daughter exclaimed, “I’ve never heard of it on an English muffin,” and whispered, “I’ve never heard of it on an English muffin.”
“However you order it, you have to make it really crispy; ask for extra crispy, because some restaurants don’t cook it long enough,” said my friend, ignoring all of this. On a sandwich, always get four slices. Always go to Taylor’s restaurant for breakfast ham sandwiches. Her daughter immediately objected, advising me to “always get it from the bagel shop.” This is the kind of enthusiasm Taylor ham evokes, and it’s everywhere in New Jersey, especially when you step away from New York City’s gravitational pull. You can buy them at any restaurant, bagel shop, or grocery store. You can even buy them sliced at the grocery store counter and prepare them at home (as you would in many parts of the country), although I’ve never seen anyone do that.
The most common form of serving is on a roll, which is sometimes known as a Kaiser or hard roll, even though it has a crust that is flaky rather than hard. The pork roll vocabulary has recently expanded to include bagels and English muffins. The most common way to eat it is with eggs and cheese, but many fans also eat it with ketchup, to the point of ordering it to be referred to as “Taylor ham very crispy, egg and cheese on a roll SPK,” meaning salt, pepper, and soy sauce. Some restaurants include hash fries in sandwiches instead of putting them on the side. Crunchy, which turns a soft product into a bacon facsimile, is something everyone I spoke to agreed with. The meat itself tastes like a cross between Canadian bacon and bacon, with a unique texture that is crunchy and slightly mushy. It is less hammy and smoky than Canadian bacon, fatter and saltier than bacon, and has a characteristic texture that is crunchy and slightly mushy. While the breakfast sandwich is its primary vehicle, it has also been ground up and stuffed into burgers as a substitute for bacon or sausage on a plate or omelet. It’s a great complement to meatballs, according to Saveur.
Bill’s Luncheonette in Chester’s breakfast menu, which has earned it the “Best Burger in Morris County,” is comprehensive and somewhat current, featuring items such as fresh raspberry pancakes and burgers with house-smoked bacon and Irish farmhouse cheddar. It also offers many Taylor’s ham sandwiches, including Mr. D, which features Taylor ham, eggs, Swiss, and fried onions on a colossal sub bun, as well as every imaginable variety of basic ingredients on muffins, bagels and even pretzel rolls.
At Bill’s and the Summit Diner, I tried Taylor’s ham sandwich in a variety of ways, as well as at Flanders Bagels by comparison (Serious Eats website highly recommends the White Rose Diner in Linden). Everything was delicious, and although I don’t think Taylor ham could replace bacon (especially with the new inclusion of local artisanal bacon, which is less processed), it was all good. It’s a great change of pace from traditional Canadian ham or bacon in a breakfast sandwich, and it’s definitely worth trying. The classic dish on Kaiser rolls is my favourite, the English muffin is my least favorite, and I still have a place in my heart for Mr. D. Big Bill. One of the best things about Taylor ham is that, unlike many other regional specialties, which can be hard to come by even in their hometown, you can get it practically anywhere in New Jersey that offers breakfast.
“One thing we all agree on is that it has to be crunchy,” says my friend Pat from Flanders.
Eligible for Hajj? No, but if you’re in New Jersey and looking for a great breakfast, this is the place.
Is Taylor’s ham made with real ham
A little historical context is needed to fully understand the complexity of this argument. Taylor ham was invented in 1856 by a local businessman and politician from Hamilton Square, New Jersey. It was a bacon roll seasoned with preservatives and spices. John Taylor was the man behind this invention, and his new product, “Taylor’s Prepared Ham,” provided cheap dinners for the working class in New Jersey. Taylor ham, of course, later abbreviated from the word vernacular.
Is Taylor ham nothing more than bologna
This is similar to Spam in New Jersey, but without the deductions. It’s almost like a more aggressive form of salty-sweet bologna, but the texture of the bologna is too smooth, while the texture of the pork roll is more “artisanal.” I use it on the Jersey Shore sandwich at our new Little Donkey restaurant in Boston to make a better morning sandwich than the one I eat with, which has a fried egg, processed orange American cheese, and pork roll on a crusty bun. It’s almost religious. We don’t eat too much sausage. Taylor ham is usually the choice.
What is the difference between traditional ham and Taylor ham
However, after the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was implemented, the product was forced to change its name because it did not meet the new legal definition of “ham”. “Pork Roll” was a new name, and was marketed as “Taylor’s Pork Roll” and “Trenton Pork Roll.” Taylor is suing competitors who sell items with similar names including “Rolled Pork” and “Trenton Style Pork Roll.” In a legal dispute from 1910, it was decided that the term “Pork Roll” could not be trademarked.
Is Taylor Ham the same as Canadian bacon
It’s the closest thing to Canadian bacon, but don’t compare it to Canadian bacon on the New Jersey native front; it’s not the same. Pork roll, or Taylor’s ham as it is known throughout much of northern Jersey, is unlike any other processed meat product in the country.
What makes ham bologna and Taylor’s so different
While bologna is a working-class meat and lunch counter staple in the Midwest and South, it is the star of what is essentially a gourmet version of the classic Jersey pork roll with egg and cheese. Bologna is sweeter than traditional Taylor ham and has a softer, cold cut-like texture. Grandpa Metzner used to almost burn it when he prepared breakfast for him, but in restaurants, it’s completely charred to remove the smoky flavor and add a little crunch.
