A 150-year-old blood feud over processed meat... When the New Jersey State Legislature tried to designate an Official State Sandwich, a fight broke out. Should it be pork roll, egg, and cheese — or Taylor ham, egg, and cheese? Thing is, pork roll and Taylor ham are the same food. New Jerseyans just can't agree on what to call it. And this debate has its roots in a 150-year-old blood feud. We talk with a bunch of locals, a pork roll historian, and comedian Chris Gethard to find out: What is this food? Why does it matter so much to the people of New Jersey? And why can't they stop fighting about it?

This episode originally aired on May 3, 2020, and was produced by Dan Pashman, Anne Saini, and Shoshana Gold, editing from Dan Charles, engineering from Chase Culpon, Bill O’Neill, and Irene Trudel, additional reporting for this episode by Kyrie Greenberg. The Sporkful team now includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, and Jared O'Connell. This update was produced by Gianna Palmer. Publishing by Shantel Holder.

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Transcript available at www.sporkful.com.

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New Jersey's Pork Roll-Taylor Ham Wars (Reheat)

The Sporkful