Tag Archives: regional

Taylor Ham vs Pork Roll

Nationality: American
Age: 47
Occupation: Homemaker
Residence: Morris Plains, NJ, USA
Language: English

Text:

“Taylor ham is North Jersey and Pork Roll is Central and South Jersey.  I grew up in Central NJ (Somerset County) so I grew up calling it Pork Roll.  There is no difference between the items.  I first heard it from my parents.  The Plaza diner in Morris Plains calls it Taylor ham but we are in North Jersey.”(LeRoy)

Analysis:

Knowing either of these is already a marker that one is from or has familiarity with New Jersey. This breakfast meat isn’t sold widely across the US, mostly in New Jersey and in a little bit of Pennsylvania. I interviewed my mother, who is a New Jersey native. She has moved around a little bit and gotten the whole experience of the importance of this debate. Where you are determines what it’s called and some people take it more seriously than others. This means if you order taylor ham/pork roll and call it by the “wrong” name for the region, some people won’t answer or will expect you to correct yourself. 

The importance of this debate is really a testament to where you are from. There is such a distinction between Central/South Jersey and North Jersey that this is part of the divide. There are many factors such as Mets vs Yankees, Jets vs Giants, Philadelphia vs New York, and Pork Roll vs Taylor Ham. There is pride in where you are from and where you live, so these debates are a healthier way to engage in this mock rivalry. Having pride for one’s home comes out in many ways, including healthy rivalry and one-upping. 

Peacock for Dinner

Background

Location: Pasadena, CA

Informant: 21 year old male from Austria, living in Pasadena with his father after moving to America.

Context

Heard from source local to the Pasadena area. This area is heavily populated by wild peacocks that live outside among the homes there. This urban legend was told to me in response to my question of where the peacocks came from. I have paraphrased the response below

Main Piece

The informant heard from his father who owned the property in Pasadena, that the peacocks migrated down to the neighborhood from the mountains above. There, the peacocks bred uncontrollably and now was considered an “infestation.” As a result, some residents had taken to hitting the peacocks with their cars and taking the corpses of the birds home to prepare them as meal, in soups, stews and other dishes.

Thoughts

The origin story of the peacocks is interesting, the informant is attempting to decipher how these peacocks came to be so prevalent in the area based off of what he has heard. Due to the fact that there are an overwhelming amount of peacocks living in the neighborhoods of Pasadena, the emergence of the urban legend points to a possible dislike for the peacocks. It also seems somewhat taboo, as Americans culturally do not regard peacocks as a typical bird for consumption. The legend itself seems farfetched, but it also points to the “quirkiness” and interesting characteristic of the neighborhood that so many wild peacocks roam around.