A few weeks ago, Deadspin came up with the Great American Menu map. In it, each state was given it’s signature food dish. Illinois has it’s deep dish pizza. It was gumbo in Louisiana. So, the obvious choice for NJ is pork roll/Taylor Ham, right? Wrong. The food that best represents New Jersey, according to Deadspin, is salt water taffy.

Obviously, this article was not not very well researched and NJ meat fans are pissed. Nothing against salt water taffy. I go to Fralinger’s whenever I’m in Atlantic City. However, it is really just something you may eat while you’re in Atlantic City or maybe a few other shore towns. Pork roll is truly the food for all of NJ. From the top of Sussex County down to Cape May, pork roll or Taylor Ham is a what we are stuffing our faces with before work.

Over on NJ.com, check out Readers in N.J. ‘extremely angry’ with salt water taffy food representation. You can read all about the fuss.

Pork roll is not just for breakfast! You can have your pork roll, egg and cheese in the AM and add a slab to your burger at lunch! The Jersey Burger, the Trenton Burger, the Pork Roll Burger, whatever you call it, it’s a great way to increase your daily pork roll intake.

Red Bank Green profiles Stew Goldstein at Monmouth Meats. He added the Trenton Burger to the menu recently and he has obviously made a few fans.

You can read it over at Red Bank Green.

A few days ago I posted about a recipe for a Pork Roll Rachel that I saw over at Serious Eats. Well, this morning, I decided that I needed to go ahead and fire up the pork roll skillet and build me a rachel.

I started out by building my pork roll pac man army.

After your pork roll has been cooked, put them aside for a moment while you prepare the rye bread. Butter the outsides of your bread, grilled cheese style. On the inside, add a slice of swiss, then add some Thousand Island dressing. Then you can re-introduce your pork roll by piling it on to your sandwich. On top of that, add a pile of cole slaw.

The good folks over at Serious Eats posted a delicious piece on building a beautiful pork roll creation called a pork roll Rachel. I have never heard of a Rachel before but it is the sister sandwich of a Reuben. Basically, you replace the sauerkraut on your reuben with cole slaw and you have yourself a rachel.

So in this recipe, the pastrami is replaced with delicious New Jersey pork roll. Go ahead and check this out over on Serious Eats. I will be building one of these this week for sure.

How to Make Gloriously Fatty Pork Roll Rachel Sandwiches at Serious Eats

Bing’s Deli is a small little breakfast and lunch joint in Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ. The word has been spreading over the past few years about the moster pork roll sandwiches they serve up. On the foodie forums like Chowhound and Roadfood, whenever pork roll gets a mention, someone is always talking about Bing’s Deli.

On a rural road in Wall, NJ there is a quaint looking business called the Allenwood General Store. It looks like it may have served the community for at least a hundred years. And it is somewhat true. There has been an Allenwood General Store in various locations in the Allenwood section of Wall since the 1850s. The current incarnation of the store has been owned by the Herbert family since the 1970s.