Country Club Bakery is a bakery located in Fairmont, West Virginia, which is where the pepperoni roll originated. The bakery is currently located on Country Club Road.[1] The pepperoni roll is a snack popular in West Virginia and some nearby regions of the Appalachian Mountains.[2]
Because of the pepperoni's roll's origins in the town, Fairmont has dubbed itself the "pepperoni roll capital of the world".[3] In 2020, in honor of the store and snack's legacy, a marker was put up in Fairmont that states, “West Virginia delicacy created by Italian families in Fairmont to feed local coal miners. Variants now popular statewide.”[4]
History
editThe original location where the pepperoni roll was invented is on Robinson Street, Fairmont.[5] The store was opened up and the snack was invented by immigrant baker Giuseppe Argiro some time around the 1910s or 1930s.[6][7][8]
The rolls originated as a lunch option for West Virginia coal miners in the first half of the twentieth century. A large number of Italian immigrants moved to North Central West Virginia looking for work in coal mining jobs. The pepperoni roll was a convenient snack that didn't spoil for the workers to eat.[9]
The pepperoni roll bears a resemblance to the pasty and sausage roll, which originated in the mining communities of Great Britain, as well as to the Italian calzone. These foods and the pepperoni shared a similar purpose; they allowed a miner on a break from a tiring and dirty job to eat a full meal with less problem.
References
edit- ^ "COUNTRY CLUB BAKERY – Holly Eats". www.hollyeats.com.
- ^ Edge, John T. (2009-09-29). "Fast Food Even Before Fast Food". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ Smith, Vicki (28 March 2004). "Meaty Snack Puts W.Va. Town on the Map". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2022.
- ^ Virginian, Scott Gillespie | Times West. "Fairmont's pepperoni roll legacy now enshrined". Times West Virginian. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ "The Pepperoni Roll – State Food of West Virginia". www.wvculture.org. West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019.
- ^ Dean, Josh (16 April 2013). "West Virginia's Iconic Fish Roll Is Finally Getting Some Official Recognition". Bon Appetit. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ Mistich, Roxy Todd, Dave (28 July 2015). "Update: Sheetz to Keep W.Va. Pepperoni Rolls, But Wants Just One Bakery". www.wvpublic.org. Archived from the original on 2020-09-20. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Walker, Chelsea. "Country Club Bakery: Home of the pepperoni roll". The Daily Athenaeum - thedaonline. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
- ^ Watch Sunday Morning: chicken rolls, the pride of West Virginia - Full show on CBS All Access, retrieved 2020-09-10
External links
edit- Bob Heffner's Pepperoni Roll page, based in Fairmont.
- Pepperoni roll recipes from cooks.com.
- Pepperoni Roll locations in West Virginia History of the pepperoni roll and locations to purchase a pepperoni roll in West Virginia.
- D'Annunzio's Bakery D'Annunzios Bakery operated by 3rd generation baker from West Virginia sells original Pepperoni Rolls online
- [1] Roger and Mazzas Bakery