The Most Iconic Food in New Jersey is Straight-Up Embarrassing

New Jersey, we need to have a talk about this pork roll thing.

At what point did we as a state decide that a pork roll sandwich was the most iconic food we have to offer? No wonder New Jersey gets so much s***.

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Am I wrong? If you ask almost anyone the first food they think of when they think of New Jersey, the stereotypical answer is pork roll. How did we get here?

I came across FiftyGrande's list of the Must-Eat Foods in Every State, and of course their answer for New Jersey was pork roll:

"The Taylor ham and egg is a breakfast staple that holds a special place in Jersey locals’ hearts. It’s nothing fancy, with thin slices of pork roll (a New Jersey native deli meat), a fluffy scrambled egg and melted cheese on a soft bun."

Food & Wine even determined it's the most well-known food in New Jersey.

READ MORE: Has New Jersey's Plastic Bag Ban Actually Backfired?

And they're not the only ones! The New Jersey pork roll is all over similar lists.

Compared to Texas' smoked brisket? Louisiana's jambalaya? Kansas' chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes? A few slices of processed meat on a bagel with cheese doesn't even come close.

What about all of the other quintessential foods of New Jersey? Our hoagies! Our cheesesteaks! Our pizza!

At least Food & Wine recognized pizza as the one food you must eat in New Jersey:

"Besides having some of the best new pizza in America, New Jersey also has some of the best oldest pizza in America, down in Trenton, where they don't call it pizza at all, but rather tomato pie."

Don't get me wrong - As someone born and raised in New Jersey, I enjoy a good porky breakfast sandwich in the morning as much as the next guy. It's simple, it's satisfying, it's sustaining. It's familiar.

But I think if we're being honest with ourselves, we'd realize this "iconic" food of New Jersey is just not. a. big. deal.

And another thing - can we finally put the tired "Pork Roll vs Taylor Ham" debate to rest? It's the same thing.

No shade to anyone who will ride or die for the New Jersey pork roll, but respectfully, this Jersey girl is over it.