Taylor Ham Or Pork Roll? You Decide, New Jersey (POLL)

Don’t mess with a man’s meat. And in New Jersey, you better have the right name for it.

The debate has become so meaty, legislators are now considering a bill that would designate an official name.

But is it Taylor ham or pork roll? A Rutgers-Eagleton Poll released in December shows 59-percent of North Jersey residents preferred calling the meat Taylor Ham, while 65-percent of South Jersey residents put their teeth into pork roll.

The x-factor, according to the poll, are the residents living in Central Jersey, with 45-percent calling it pork roll and just 25-percent biting into Taylor ham.

According to the poll, on a full state basis, pork roll topped Taylor ham 38-percent to 35-percent. Results were from a statewide phone poll consisting of 843 residents.

Assemblyman Tim Eustace (D-Bergen) wants to put an end to the debate and has introduced legislation that would require the state to choose between the two for an official name. Eustace introduced two bills in April - one that would name the New Jersey state sandwich "Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese"; and another that would name the state sandwich, "Pork roll, egg, and cheese."

Bills A3666 (pork roll) and A3667 (Taylor ham) have not yet been put to a vote.

So, what say you, Patch readers? Vote in our poll below: