Why Locals In West Virginia Love Pepperoni Rolls

Utter the words "pepperoni roll" in West Virginia, and folks will know exactly what you're talking about — and, likely, where to get one just down the road. This soft, pillowy pillar of West Virginia's food scene is a gourmet step above store-bought pizza rolls, comprising white Italian bread baked around a toothy strip of pepperoni. Some preparations use sticks, others use slices, and some even add cheese into the mix, but the basic template remains, all wrapped in warm, fluffy bread. As it bakes, the meat's oils seep into the soft bread, creating a spicy, ultra-savory halo of grease and a luscious texture. It's the simple, timeless state food of West Virginia, and it's no mystery why locals love 'em.

A Reddit thread with 4,500 upvotes shares a photo of homemade West Virginia pepperoni rolls, and the comments section is filled with similarly enthusiastic fans of the regional specialty. Foodies who apparently grew up in the region and have since moved away lament, "Oh man. These are high on the list of things I miss about home. Pepperoni rolls, Gino's pubwich, and Tudor's. Sigh," and "I really really miss pepperoni rolls, every other state should take note and ramp up their pep roll game!" 

According to another post in r/WestVirginia, Fairmont and Clarksburg are pepperoni roll ground zero. "I was born in Fairmont. Fairmont is known for 2 things ... the pepperoni roll and Mary Lou Retton," one Redditor said. Now, what was once an enclave of northeast Appalachian regional heritage has boomed into a fixture of broader West Virginia local identity, rooted in coal country tradition and history.

The Mountain State's pepperoni roll tradition traces back to its coal miner population in North-Central West Virginia. Per lore, the culinary creation as it exists today was invented in the 1920s by Giuseppe "Joseph" Argiro, a coal miner who immigrated to Marion County from Italy, and the first to produce pepperoni rolls on a commercial scale. Alternative origin theories credit the rolls' creation more broadly to the region's large population of Italian immigrant workers, who devised pepperoni rolls as a portable, non-perishable snack to take underground into the mines. Either way, the snack expedited the oft-spied coal miner lunch of a pepperoni stick in one hand and a loaf of bread in the other hand into a single grippable snack.

Nowadays, it's hard to pop into a convenience store or gas station in the state without spotting a pepperoni roll. Some West Virginia bakeries are also known for their pepperoni rolls, serving as culinary destinations for locals and tourists alike. Many of these bakeries are longstanding family-owned establishments. Country Club Bakery in Fairmont was opened by Argiro in 1927, and today, it ships out pepperoni rolls to all 50 states. Further south, Rogers & Mazza's Bakery in Clarksburg — which even holds the internet domain for "pepperonirolls.net" – produces approximately 35,000 from-scratch pepperoni rolls daily, according to WVNews. 

For a taste at home, locals (and foodies anywhere) can whip up a flavorful batch of pepperoni rolls using frozen premade dinner roll dough layered with pepperoni slices and (if desired) mozzarella. Bonus points for brushing with melted butter, dried oregano, and garlic, or incorporating other ingredients at home, as this Redditor does, "Love mine with peppers and hot pepper jack cheese. And a home favorite is using crescent bread for the roll. So soft and flakey!"