Pork roll
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pork roll (regionally known as Taylor Ham) is a pork-based processed meat originating and commonly available in New Jersey, Delaware and parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland. It was developed in 1856 by John Taylor of Trenton, New Jersey, and sold as “Taylor Ham”. Other producers entered the market, and subsequent food labeling regulations required Taylor to designate it as a “pork roll” alongside their competitors.
Origin and description
While a similar item, packed minced ham, may have been produced at the time of the Battle of Trenton, John Taylor is credited with creating his secret recipe for the product in 1856. George Washington Case, a farmer and butcher from nearby Belle Mead, New Jersey, created his own recipe for pork roll in 1870. Case’s was reportedly packaged in corn husks.
Taylor originally called his product “Taylor’s Prepared Ham”, but was forced to change the name after it failed to meet the new legal definition of “ham” established by the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. Marketed as both “Taylor’s Pork Roll” and “Trenton Pork Roll”, it saw competition from products with similar names like “Rolled Pork” and “Trenton style Pork Roll”. When their makers were sued by Taylor a 1910 legal case ruled that the words “Pork Roll” could not be trademarked. In North Jersey, residents continue to use the term Taylor Ham, while South Jersey residents generally use the term “pork roll”, with Central Jersey residents using a mix of the two.
In the 1910 lawsuit, it was described as “a food article made of pork, packed in a cylindrical cotton sack or bag in such form that it could be quickly prepared for cooking by slicing without removal from the bag.” Some people compare the modern article’s taste and/or texture to Treet, bologna sausage, mild salami, or US-style Canadian bacon.
Taylor and Trenton are the brand names for pork roll made by Taylor Provisions,[5] of Trenton, New Jersey. Other companies making pork roll include crosstown rivals Case Pork Roll Company[6] and Loeffler’s Gourmet,[7] as well as Hatfield Quality Meats of Hatfield, Pennsylvania, and Alderfer Premium Meats[8] of Harleysville, Pennsylvania.
Pork roll is generally sold in 1, 1.5, and 3 lb. unsliced rolls packed in cotton bag, as well as 6 oz. boxes containing 4, 6, or 8 slices. Larger rolls and packages are available for food service customers. It is also sold at delicatessens, diners, lunch stands and food trucks in the region. It has also been a staple in public school cafeterias in New Jersey.
I have never heard of this.
You can buy it online. Jersey goodness
I’m surprised I never heard of this either, even living so close. I guess the New York equivalent uses Canadian or regular bacon and leaves out the cheese, putting it on a kaiser roll.