Cuisine of New Jersey

The state is known for its commercial food and industrial production, beginning with the founding of the

Food writer, influencer, and chef Anthony Bourdain was raised in Leonia, New Jersey.^[7] He often profiled New Jersey restaurants on his multiple television shows.^[8] Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken is the setting for TLC's reality television series, Cake Boss.^[9] New Jersey is also well known for having convenience food stores, such as Wawa and QuickChek, along with submarine sandwich restaurants, like Jersey Mike's Subs.

Agriculture

Food and agriculture are New Jersey's third largest industry, behind pharmaceuticals and

Regional foods

Due to its position between

The state capital of Trenton, located near the boundary of Central and South Jersey, is known for two foods in particular: tomato pie and pork roll. In Trenton, tomato pie is basically an interchangeable term for pizza, albeit with a subtle difference: While traditional pizzas are prepared by placing the cheese and toppings on top of the sauce and dough, tomato pies are made by laying the cheese directly on top of the dough, then adding the toppings, and finally spreading the sauce atop the mix.^[14] This creates a more tomato-intensive taste for the thin-crust pie.

Pork roll is a sausage-like pork product developed by John Taylor in Trenton in the late 19th century, and has become a popular breakfast and sandwich meat throughout the Garden State. In South Jersey and elsewhere, it is often referred to as a pork roll due to the tube-like sack, or "roll", in which it is traditionally packaged, while in North Jersey it is usually called Taylor Ham. The meat is generally eaten sliced and grilled like Canadian bacon, but is also known to be fried. Also common is the pork roll, egg and cheese sandwich, in which the pork roll is cooked on a griddle and then topped with a fried egg and American cheese and eaten on a hard roll.

The

The regional soft drink Boost! is sold primarily in Burlington County, though can also be found in other places from Trenton to Woodbury and as far east as Williamstown.^[17]

Diner food

New Jersey is renowned for its multitude of

Specialties specific to New Jersey diners include the previously mentioned pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, as well as disco fries, a food similar to the Quebec dish of poutine. They consist of french fries, usually slightly overcooked, and covered with brown gravy and melted mozzarella cheese.

Dishes

New York-style pizza (above) and the Philadelphia cheesesteak (below) are associated with New Jersey due to its position between both cities.

• Disco fries - French fries covered with brown gravy and melted cheese, usually mozzarella.^[18]
• Rippers - hot dogs that have been deep-fried until they rip apart (see Danger dog
  )
• Texas Wiener - deep-fried hot dog served with onions and chili sauce.^[19]
• Italian hot dog
• Pork roll or Taylor Ham - usually fried and eaten on a sandwich with eggs and/or cheese.^[20][21]
• Roll and butter - hard or kaiser roll with butter. Some establishments offer salad dressing in addition to butter.^[22]
• Sloppy joe - sandwich native to North-Central Jersey - A triple decker deli sandwich (most commonly containing corned beef or pastrami, turkey and ham, but with many variations) dressed with cole slaw and Russian dressing on thin-sliced rye bread. In other parts of the state, this is known as a "Reuben," and this area views a sloppy joe using the more common definition of a hot sandwich of pan-cooked hamburger meat soaked in a sweet, tangy sauce with small pieces of diced bell peppers, usually served on a hamburger roll or Kaiser roll.
• Jersey breakfast dog - danger dog (deep-fried bacon-wrapped hot dog) with eggs and melted cheese.^[23]

• In and Outers - hot dogs that have been deep-fried until they blister slightly (see Danger dog)
• Salt water taffy
• New York-style pizza^[24]
• Tomato pie
• Bagel
• Sausage sandwich
• Beefsteak (banquet)
• Panzerotti
  - mozzarella and tomato sauce filled deep fried dough pocket similar to but larger than an empanada

Ethnic cuisine and enclaves

In addition to its local foods, New Jersey boasts a plethora of ethnic cuisines due to its large immigrant population. Some of the more prominent examples include

Among the ethnic culinary enclaves in New Jersey[25]

• Middle Eastern: Main Street and Crooks Avenue, South Paterson, aka Little Istanbul or Little Ramallah^[26]
• Latino: Bergenline, North Hudson (aka Havana on the Hudson) and Little Lima
• Portuguese/Brazilian:
  Ironbound, Newark
• Indian: Oak Tree Road, Iselin and Edison; India Square; Jersey City
• Japanese: Fort Lee and Edgewater
• Korean: Koreatown, Palisades Park, Fort Lee, and Northern Valley
• Hungarian:
  Fifth Ward, New Brunswick

See also

• Cuisine of New York City
• Cuisine of Philadelphia

References

Bibliography

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on

• Jersey breakfast dog

• Caparulo, Vicki J. (2003). Great Dishes from New Jersey's Favorite Restaurants. Rutgers University Press.
  ISBN 0-8135-3311-2
  .
• Di Ionno, Mark (2002). Backroads, New Jersey: Driving at the Speed of Life. Rutgers University Press.
  ISBN 0-8135-3133-0
  .
• Genovese, Peter (2007). New Jersey Curiosities, 2nd: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff. Globe Pequot.
  ISBN 978-0-7627-4112-0
  .

External links

• New York Times March 28, 2008
• History of New Jersey cooking, pre-colonial to present
• Genovese, Peter (March 19, 2019). "The 64 foods that define New Jersey - and where to get them". NJ.com.