Mike’s Jersey boy sandwich in Union City.
Mike Goldfinger, yes he is my number two son, is a Jersey guy who has been living in Florida, but now he has returned and, although the weather outside is frightful, he has been enjoying some of the joys of Jersey that he has missed. Philly has their cheese steaks, but those are really gross. I tried one at famous “Pat’s—King of Steaks” in South Philly and I hated it. They poured melted Cheez Whiz on top.
But for Mike, he was anxious to have a uniquely Jersey sandwich. He was in Union City, and he stopped into a typical small “joint” where the best pork roll sandwiches are found. It cost about $6.00 with coffee, but Mike was in heaven. It had cheese, pork roll, egg, ketchup, salt and pepper on a good roll. It was so delicious that he photographed it.
He actually does usually follow the heart healthy diet suggestions in our book, but sometimes you do need to make an exception. He was especially motivated when he got an email from his colleagues in Tampa, razzing him, as Florida people do, about the weather. So Michael mailed his sandwich back at ’em.
When he went to pay the bill, he offered the elderly man behind the counter a credit card. “Just cash,” said the man. Mike said he had no cash.
The man said, “I know you. Next time you are here, give me 6 bucks.” Mike will definitely do that….and no, he never was there before.
Tell us which Jersey foods you enjoy.
If you missed our email blast, here is John Pizzarelli explaining why he likes Jersey best: —-Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger
Carl: Evidently, according to Wikipedia, Taylor ham is a brand name for a version of pork roll. In North Jersey there is a tendency to refer to Taylor ham, while South Jersey and Philly call it pork roll. As for Rutt’s Hut, our gang from Rutherford High School used to go there when we could drive; we would get hamburgers with their famous relish rather than the Taylor ham and egg sandwiches. We would sit on the hoods of our cars, laugh and eat. Rutt’s Hut is still there along the Passaic River, but down below the view has changed—it’s a big highway now.
And our gang was not the kind that had tattoos, wore ducktails, and had greased lightening cars. No, we were mostly in the band, on the soccer team and borrowing our fathers’ cars.
Note: Carl was from Passaic High, just across the river from RHS, but we didn’t know each other back then. We always played Passaic on Thanksgiving—it was the oldest high school football rivalry in NJ. The Passaic Indians cheerleaders wore leather with fringes. They were fun to watch. One of those cheerleaders now lives in Ocean Grove, but I won’t blow her cover. The Rutherford-Passaic games were cancelled forever some years ago
I WAS LOOKING AT THE MENU BOARD IN RUTT’S HUT IN THE MID 50’S,
AND I ASKED MY BUDDY, “WHAT THE HECK IS A PORK ROLL SANDWICH”. THE ANSWER………….” TAYLOR HAM”.
I KNEW WHAT TAYLOR WAS, SO IF I HAD TO ORDER PORK ROLL, I WOULD ASK ” IS IT TAYLOR HAM”.