Cuisine of New Jersey facts for kids
The cuisine of New Jersey is a mix of different food traditions. This is because many people from all over the world have moved to New Jersey over time. Also, New Jersey is close to two big cities, New York City and Philadelphia. This means that the food in northern and central New Jersey is often like New York City food, while the food in southern New Jersey is more like Philadelphia food.
Restaurants in New Jersey often use fresh ingredients grown right in the state. These include yummy foods like asparagus, blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, corn, and peaches. New Jersey is also famous for having more than 500 diners, which is more than any other state! Some popular foods that started in New Jersey, like the pork roll and salt water taffy, are still enjoyed there today.
New Jersey is a big player in making food for the whole country. The Campbell Soup Company has been in Camden since 1869. Goya Foods, a large food company owned by Hispanic families, has its main office in Jersey City. Did you know that M&M's candies have been made in Hackettstown, New Jersey since 1958? Also, Manischewitz, a top maker of Jewish foods like matzo and kosher wine, is based in Newark, New Jersey.
Famous chef Anthony Bourdain grew up in Leonia, New Jersey. He often showed off New Jersey restaurants on his TV shows. Carlo's Bake Shop in Hoboken is where the TV show Cake Boss is filmed. New Jersey is also known for its convenience stores like Wawa and QuickChek, and popular sandwich shops like Jersey Mike's Subs.
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Regional Foods: A Taste of New Jersey
Because New Jersey is located between New York City and Philadelphia, you'll find foods from both cities are very popular here.
North and Central Jersey Favorites
In North Jersey and Central Jersey, which are closer to New York City, you'll often find pizza, bagels, pastrami, and submarine sandwiches. These sandwiches are often called "subs" or sometimes "heroes."
Hot Dogs Galore
North Jersey is especially famous for its hot dogs, with many unique styles.
- The ripper is a hot dog deep-fried until its skin "rips" open. A famous place to try one is Rutt's Hut in Clifton, New Jersey.
- Texas wieners are grilled or deep-fried hot dogs served with spicy brown mustard, chopped onions, and a thin meat sauce. If you order it "all the way," you get all three toppings!
- The Italian hot dog started in Newark in 1932. It's made by slicing a round pizza bread roll, adding mustard, then stuffing it with deep-fried hot dogs, fried onions and peppers, and deep-fried potatoes. Ketchup is often drizzled on top. You can also get it with Italian sausages instead of hot dogs.
Central Jersey Specialties
The state capital, Trenton, is known for two special foods: tomato pie and pork roll.
Trenton Tomato Pie
A tomato pie is similar to pizza, but with a small difference. On a tomato pie, the cheese and toppings are put on the dough first, and then the tomato sauce is spread on top. This gives it a stronger tomato flavor.
Pork Roll: A New Jersey Staple
Pork roll is a meat product created by John Taylor in Trenton in the late 1800s. It's a very popular breakfast and sandwich meat throughout New Jersey. In South Jersey, it's usually called "pork roll" because of its tube-like packaging. But in North Jersey, people often call it "Taylor Ham." It's usually sliced and grilled, or fried. A very popular breakfast is the pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, served on a hard roll.
Fat Sandwiches
The "Grease Trucks" at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey became famous for their "fat sandwiches." These are huge sandwiches filled with things like chicken fingers, french fries, mozzarella sticks, and onion rings.
South Jersey Treats
Salt water taffy is a soft, chewy candy that first appeared in Atlantic City in the late 1800s. It's a classic souvenir and candy found on boardwalks all along the East Coast of the United States.
Diners: A New Jersey Icon
New Jersey is famous for its many diners, with over 500 across the state. Many are open 24 hours a day! A lot of diners were started by Greek families, so you might find Greek dishes like gyros on the menu, along with classic American foods.
Diners typically serve popular American meals like hamburgers, club sandwiches, and meatloaf. They often focus on breakfast foods like eggs (including omelettes), waffles, pancakes, and French toast, and most serve breakfast all day long. Coffee is always available. Diner food is usually quite affordable. You'll often see clear display cases filled with delicious desserts like pies and cheesecakes.
Diner Specialties
Besides the pork roll, egg, and cheese sandwich, New Jersey diners are known for disco fries. These are French fries covered with brown gravy and melted mozzarella cheese. They are similar to a Canadian dish called poutine.
Other Popular Dishes
- Disco fries - French fries with brown gravy and melted cheese.
- Rippers - Hot dogs deep-fried until they burst open.
- Texas Wiener - A deep-fried hot dog with onions and chili sauce.
- Italian hot dog - A hot dog served in pizza bread with peppers, onions, and potatoes.
- Pork roll or Taylor Ham - Often fried and eaten in a sandwich.
- Roll and butter - A simple hard or kaiser roll with butter.
- Sloppy joe (New Jersey style) - A triple-decker deli sandwich, usually with different meats, coleslaw, and Russian dressing on rye bread. This is different from the "sloppy joe" you might know, which is ground meat in sauce.
- Jersey breakfast dog - A deep-fried, bacon-wrapped hot dog with eggs and melted cheese.
- In and Outers - Hot dogs deep-fried until they blister slightly.
- Salt water taffy
- New York-style pizza
- Tomato pie
- Sausage sandwich
- Portuguese Charcoal BBQ
- Beefsteak (banquet)
- Panzerotti - A deep-fried dough pocket filled with mozzarella and tomato sauce.
Diverse Ethnic Cuisines
New Jersey has a huge variety of ethnic foods because so many people from different countries have made it their home. You can find amazing Chinese, Indian, Brazilian, Taiwanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Middle Eastern, Italian, Polish, and Greek food. Cuban cuisine is also very popular, especially in the Hudson County area.
Some areas are known for specific types of food:
- Middle Eastern food: Main Street in South Paterson, sometimes called Little Istanbul or Little Ramallah.
- Latino food: Bergenline in North Hudson (known as Havana on the Hudson) and Little Lima.
- Portuguese/Brazilian food: The Ironbound neighborhood in Newark, New Jersey.
- Indian food: Oak Tree Road in Iselin and Edison (called Little Mumbai), and India Square in Jersey City.
- Japanese food: Fort Lee and Edgewater.
- Korean food: Koreatown, Palisades Park, Koreatown, Fort Lee, and Northern Valley.
- Hungarian food: The Fifth Ward in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
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Goya Foods is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey
