How do you tailor your Taylor Ham?
“Salt, pepper, ketchup?” This is the response you’ll get if you request a “Taylor ham, egg and cheese on a hard roll” in most breakfast-serving businesses in New Jersey. But if you say these words in any other state, you would probably get some puzzled looks. To people in New Jersey, Taylor Ham is to pork roll as Q-tip is to cotton swab. And, please note, a hard roll is not a stale roll; it’s a freshly baked Kaiser roll.
For many, Taylor Ham is as integral to a good breakfast sandwich as Cheese Wiz is to a Philadelphia cheese steak. Formally known as “John Taylor’s Original Taylor Ham,” this brand of pork roll is a regional delicacy that was invented by John Taylor of Trenton, New Jersey in the late 19th century.
The preparation of Taylor ham is similar to that of Canadian bacon. It is generally cut into slices thicker than the average deli meat and grilled alongside eggs and home fries for flavor. Due to its round, roll-fitting size, salty taste, and crispy texture, Taylor Ham makes the perfect addition to an egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwich.
What is pork roll made of, you ask? Well, it's a secret concoction, which consists mainly of pork ground up with bits of fat and seasonings, and then hung and cured in cotton bags…the rest is best left unsaid. Just savor its taste as you enjoy your classic Jersey breakfast experience.
Most delis will let you handpick your hard roll and will slice the pork roll as thin or thick as you like. And to top it off, they not only offer the options of salt, pepper, and ketchup, but most also ask if you want your choice of cheese toasted onto the roll. For a classic Taylor Ham sandwich, I recommend the Potbelly Deli (above), located at 52 Main Street in Sussex, New Jersey.
If you live in New Jersey or a nearby area such as Philadelphia, you can also find Taylor Ham next to the bologna and hot dogs in the deli section of most any grocery store. Alternatively, you can purchase some online at www.jerseyporkroll.com or by calling 1-866-4NJ-PORK. Taylor Ham is either sold whole in one-, three-, and six-pound sizes, or in smaller six-ounce boxed packages with a choice of eight thin slices or four slices double in thickness.