Thousands Savor Trenton's Pork Roll Festival, Or Is It Taylor Ham?
TRENTON, N.J. (CBS) - There's a debate in New Jersey as to whether or not pork roll should actually be known as Taylor Ham -- as it's called in the northern part of the Garden State.
But the thousands who showed up at the Pork Roll Festival Saturday in Trenton were more interested in sampling the meat.
The sounds and smells of sizzling pork roll blended with beautiful weather at the third annual festival.
RELATED: Christie Makes Executive Decision: It's Taylor Ham, Not Pork Roll
The popular pork-based food was being paired with just about everything.
"We have the Trenton Burger which is a cheeseburger with pork roll on top," says Checkers Food & Spirits cook Alex Fowler.
"We tried to compliment what we already do. We took some pork roll, fried it up on the grill and then we topped it on our signature mac and cheese," explains Kath's Catering founder Kathleen Sullivan.
"We did a pork roll, egg and cheese pie, we had pork roll tomato pie and then we had a pork roll and pineapple special with teriyaki sauce," Delorenzo's Pizza On The Go owner Tyler Delorenzo tells KYW Newsradio.
If that didn't make you hungry enough, Hai Street Food Truck's David James was serving up Pork Roll Sushi Burritos.
"It comes with pork roll, egg, gochujang sauce and fried shallots and it's been one of the top sellers here today. It's one, giant sushi roll the size of a burrito."
Festival chairman Scott Miller says all the vendors coordinate their menus to make sure they all have some pork roll themed items:
"These are all top rated food vendors that we allow to come into our Trenton area and we challenge them to show us what they can come up with."
He says the festival also featured a recipe contest, beer garden and a pork roll queen contest. Not to mention a continuation of the debate that's been making headlines lately: is it "pork roll: or "Taylor ham?"
"I would say it's pork roll. You're at the pork roll festival my friend," Miller said.
Most of the people who spoke with KYW Newsradio were on the same page:
"Pork roll man, pork roll! Come on baby!"
"It's pork roll"
"Pork roll, all day"
But Dale and Melissa were enjoying tater tots with...
"Taylor ham. Taylor ham definitely."
Call it what you want, everyone at the festival agrees: the processed meat that became famous in our area is delicious.
