CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — West Virginia is known for several iconic foods, but one of its most famous items is the pepperoni roll.
The pepperoni roll, most commonly made with fluffy bread and salty pepperoni layered throughout is a delicacy known to pretty much everyone born and raised in the Mountain State.
The history dates back nearly 100 years ago with strong ties to coal mining.
‘We know that the pepperoni roll was most likely created in the kitchens of coal miners’ wives at home,” said Candace Nelson, author of “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll.” “The very first pepperoni rolls were this harder Italian bread and stick pepperoni.”
Nelson said this made for a hardy and easy lunch for miners.
“You could eat the pepperoni roll and if your hands are a little bit dirty you can get rid of the roll but still enjoy the pepperoni,” Nelson explained. “They have really thrived here, I think in part because of our close ties to the coal mining history, but also because we are proud. I think that when we have something that’s our very own. We enjoy it.”
Candace Nelson is the author of “The West Virginia Pepperoni Roll.” (WCHS)
The place that takes credit for first commercializing the roll is in Fairmont, West Virginia.
“It wasn’t until years later it was commercialized …. sometime between 1927 and 1938 we know that Giuseppe Argiro with Country Club Bakery first commercially created the pepperoni roll,” Nelson said.
Since then, you could find the pepperoni rolls in bakeries and on grocery store shelves.
“It was years later when they started to evolve into a softer, white bread,” Nelson said. “We know the communities outside the Italian community preferred a softer white bread. Then you start adding things like peppers or ramps and some places even do have sauce on their pepperoni rolls.”
School cooks are known to place pepperoni rolls on lunch menus. (WCHS)
They’re such a staple in the state, schools even place them on lunch menus.
“The kids love the pepperoni roll day. They love it,” Kanawha County Schools cook Jill McCown said. “They’ll come in in the morning for breakfast and see that we’re making pepperoni rolls and they get so excited.”
McCown said 25 pounds of flour equals about 250 rolls. Cooks use 15 pounds of cheese and 15 pounds of pepperoni for one batch, which are served in schools.
The pepperoni roll nearly became the state’s official food item.
“In 2013 they introduced introduced a resolution to make the pepperoni roll the official state food of West Virginia,” Nelson recalled. “It didn’t end up passing.”
Regardless or where you get your pepperoni roll or how you like them, they’re a mainstay in the Mountain State.
Dining and Cooking