Pork Roll
8Anybody here fond of Trenton Pork Roll, aka Taylor ham? Got any stories/memories to share? What was your favorite diner/store/shop to get a pork roll sandwich?
If you don’t live in NJ, where do you get your pork roll fix? If you eat it at home, how do you prepare it? What else do you use on the sandwich?
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First of all…Taylor Ham does not exist. PORK ROLL cough is absolutely delicious and we can go on to debate whether mustard should be utilized or not.
But kidding aside, being around the tri-state area and having Pork Roll and Scrapple is awesome.
On bagels, rolls, kaisers or just as a meat side or main with some home fries.
No like fond stories or anything to write home about but Mr. Bill’s in Winslow makes some killer breakfast sandwiches. Scrapple and PORK ROLL included.
Home prep is minimal - fry the slices up in a pan but definitely need to throw in some cuts along the edge so it doesn’t bubble up. Would have more scrapple but the woman running this house cannot stand the smell of it lol. Every now and then she may acquiesce and allow for scrapple sides on a random weekend.
Much of this I’m sure will be lost to those who haven’t spent time around Jersey but should you wander into a Jersey diner, maybe just try a side of PORK ROLL or scrapple.
POPSOCKETS! ROAD ROCKETS! SONNY CROCKETT! AWESOME!
@blndfayth My dad is originally from Northern Liberties (before they made it nice like it is now) and my mom is from Edison, and we lived in Cherry Hill when I was little and then moved to California for my dad’s job. My cousins and aunt are still in Oxford Circle. We had the hardest time getting Pork Roll, Sana Balm powder (which my dad thinks can be used to cure everything), black cherry Nowishniak, and scrapple out here but…after a couple years, we started to find scrapple in the frozen section at the market - wait for it- in an area that had frozen dog food. My mom bought up a ton of it so we could freeze it and take it out for “special”breakfasts, like on birthdays and holidays. We would dip it in flour and then fry it in a pan with oil until it was crispy on the edges and, then we would dip it in egg yolks. Over the years, we stopped frying in flour and oil and just sliced it and put it in a super hot pan and fried it that way. Goddamn, I love scrapple so much. Whenever I’m back in Philly, I like to stop and get breakfast at the Mayfair near Cottman at least a few times while I’m in town because it’s perfectly greasy and amazing and exactly how it want it, every time.
Anytime I would try to tell people out here, in Southern California, about scrapple and Taylor Pork Roll, they would look at me like I was crazy (because, looking at the ingredients in scrapple, it’s sort of like looking at what’s in hot dogs). It’s too bad they’re put off by all that because they have no idea what they’re missing.
These days, you can get pretty much everything online so all that stuff I missed having as a little kid is pretty easy to get sent to me whenever, wherever. Tastykakes are at some markets out here, etc., which makes it much easier for me in terms of all the stuff I used to have to bring back to California after visiting family in Philly and Jersey. My bags used to be packed with at least 5 pounds of Dunkin’ Donuts coffee beans, perogies from St. Stephen’s (which I could only get after Sunday services and those services are SO LONG), at least 6 amoroso rolls, kielbasa from Czerw’s, and anything else that I could fit into my bags and pack in dry ice. Good thing I can have most of that stuff (not the kielbasa because that’s cash only) shipped now because I don’t think I would be allowed to travel with stuff packed in dry ice now.
@natasha_natasha I love all the food you mentioned, lol! When my friend moved to Ohio, she would get Amoroso rolls sent to her so she could make cheesesteaks, and if she was visiting, she always took back tons of stuff if she was driving. She also made sure to take a couple of hoagies packed ‘travel style’
And I agree…the ingredients in scrapple are best left out of a conversation.
Since you moved when you were little, you may not know about Philly butter cake…but it’s another amazing thing that used to be SUPER popular in Philly and Jersey. It’s definitely unique to this area and for some reason it’s not quite as easy to find in bakeries now, (I have been hunting for an accurate recipe for years, but have been unsuccessful.
)
If you think of it, I’d be curious to know if your family has had it or heard of it (the over 40 age group will probably be the most likely to know about it) And the next time you get back to visit, try to find some. I promise, even though your blood sugar levels will not appreciate it, you definitely will not regret it.
@k4evryng I have tried to make that butter cake a few times but it’s never turned out right. It’s so good - and so rich! I am determined to try to make it (correctly) one of these days. If I find a good recipe, I will absolutely share it with you!!
@natasha_natasha that’s awesome! I swear that cake is magic!
And every recipe I’ve tried online (and I’ve tried like 20 over the years) has not been an actual Philly butter cake (despite their claims that it is). It’s funny to read the comments on the recipes because those from Philly say something like “if you know this cake, you would know that this isn’t it” 
If I ever find it, I’ll pass it along to you as well! I need to go under cover and work at a bakery that makes a decent one…but I’m pretty sure that would be an unwise health decision.
KRULL! A SKULL! BRETT HULL! AWESOME!
Honestly never heard of this, but after a cursory search, I think I NEED to know more about this! Looking at it, I’d guess it’s something similar to our region’s “delicacy”…SPAM, but will allow for correction if necessary. Nonetheless, that breakfast sandwich I saw on YouTube looks flat out awesome!!
WORKER BEES! HERCULES! TURKEY GREASE! AWESOME!
@jackinga @blndfayth
I’m just outside of Philly and grew up with both Pork Roll and scrapple. I knew scrapple was regional but I forgot pork roll was. I think they’re both pretty much available everywhere now, aren’t they?
I haven’t had pork roll in a year or 2, but lightly fried up with egg and cheese on an English muffin is my ‘go to’ preparation for it. It just sits so perfectly on anything round.
And I love when it puffs up in the center, lol!
I happened to be reading how to cook scrapple in an air fryer a few weeks ago, and saw that technically you can eat it raw because it’s precooked.
I can’t imagine anyone doing that! I dredge mine in a little flour and pan fry in butter until it’s cooked crisp. Yum. (There’s a good reason Philly is one of the fattest cities. 
Our region has all the good stuff. 
)
@k4evryng No, I don’t think pork roll is available locally everywhere.
I get mine, Trenton Pork Roll,
at BJ’s Wholesale Club, currently 6lb/$29.99 or 31.2¢/oz. BJ’s, a Northeast-centric, wholesale club has a few stores here in the deep South. It may also be available at Publix, Kroger, Wegmans, and others depending on where you live. Amzn Prime has it as Taylor Ham, but it is more than $1+/oz. Ouch!
Here Johnny Yarusi shows Rachel Ray how he makes his pork roll sandwich.
A working man’s breakfast/lunch, a classic sandwich has four slices of fried/grilled pork roll, some kind of cheese (American, white or yellow, provolone, etc.), a fried egg, with or without a runny yolk, and optionals such as ketchup, hot sauce, hash browns, tater tots, slaw, fried peppers and onions, and even pineapple on a Kaiser roll, a bagel, or even an English muffin.
Here’s a video on some of these variations.
On anything but a large Kaiser roll, there are going to be stuff hanging/falling out, and even with a Kaiser roll, it is going to be a handful.
“Children cry for it.”
@Jackinga Interesting. I’ve only ever seen the little Taylor pork roll packages…I’ve never seen Trenton before…but I can’t say I’ve looked hard because I always just buy Taylor’s. Is the Trenton brand better? My husband is from South Jersey…I’ll have to ask him if he recognizes the package.
I actually do have a random, fond memory involving pork roll.
Growing up, my best friend lived right next to the bus stop, and every morning before the bus came I would go to her house to wait for the bus. She almost always had a piece of pork roll cooking in a frying pan when I walked in (I can’t remember if she put it on toast or what…but it always involved melting a piece of cheese on top. 
). So whenever I have it, I think of her immediately.
I work for a company with an office in Jersey. When I was there last summer, I enjoyed a couple of morning stops at Johnny Porkroll in Red Bank for porkroll, egg and cheese (aka PEC) sandwiches. Very, very tasty, and everyone who eats pork should experience it, but I prefer a bagel and schmear from one of the places down the street.
Rook iced New Orleans cold press was a mainstay of my morning, though. Every day.
Never heard of it here in the west.
@Kyeh I guess I always just assumed that even regional things make their way to other places if they’re good, lol! Do you have Tastykakes there? That used to be a local thing, but I thought they made their way out of Philadelphia, too (like cheese steaks
).
I don’t get the opportunity to travel much, (but now that my kids are older maybe we can start), so I can’t compare what is regional to what is just ‘everywhere’ food.
I’m not sure I’d recommend scrapple to most people…I think it’s an acquired taste.
But pork roll (to me) is very similar to ham, and is pretty good.
@Kyeh not in STL either
@k4evryng I’ve found Tastykakes at Target a few times, but not regularly, and not the ones I would like most, like the krimpets or the coconut cakes. Just chocolate, always chocolate; I want butterscotch! And jelly!
Tastykakes! Make the sign of the “T.” Butterscotch crimpets were always my favorite. But truth to tell, I’ll eat any of them, particularly peanut butter Tandy Cakes first.
Anyone tried pork roll strips in Ramen? Not bad.
@Jackinga Sounds like Spam sushi, which I’ve heard is popular in Hawaii.