Why Pork Roll (Or Taylor Ham) Rules New Jersey || Food/Groups

New Jersey is hard to love. It’s a land of endless debate: diner vs. diner, Giants vs. Eagles, Springsteen vs. Bon Jovi, North vs. South vs. Central... on and on. But there IS one thing that binds the Garden State together: pork roll. 

Pork roll is the unofficial -- but indisputable -- state meat of New Jersey. Even though everyone in North Jersey calls it Taylor ham, pretty much the entire state agrees that this processed minced meat defines its culinary identity. 

So for this very special Garden State episode of Food/Groups, we drove down the Parkway, up the Turnpike, and a bunch of roads in between to find out why pork roll is so damn important to New Jerseyans. 

Watch More — Long Island Has NY's Freshest Oysters —    • Long Island Has NY's Freshest Oysters...  
 
Guests
Pete Genovese: twitter.com/petegenovese
T.C. Nelson: http://trentonsocial.com/
Scott Miller: http://www.exit7a.com/
John Yarusi: https://johnnyporkroll.com/
 
Locations
Summit Diner: https://www.thrillist.com/venues/eat/...
The Pork Roll Festival®: http://porkrollfestival.com/
Trenton Pork Roll Festival at Trenton Social: http://www.trentonporkrollfestival.com/
Johnny’s Pork-Roll and Coffee Truck: https://johnnyporkroll.com/

Music Credits:
“Act Like You Know” by Angel Amador, James Desmond, Jo'lise Grant, Mikhail Johnson, Panauh Kalayeh
00:00

“By the Streams” by Tom Hillock, Nicolas Boscovic, Jane Pujols
48:07

“Hot Sun Tan” by Robert Garner
2:32

“Luna” by Russell Chimes
4:07
 
Read Pete’s pork roll dissertation: https://www.thrillist.com/eat/new-yor...
 
Read Dave’s New Jersey love letter: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainme...
 
Read Thrillist’s Asbury Park guide:
https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/n...

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