Great news for Hoosiers and for fans of the breaded pork tenderloin!
(If I drew that in a Venn diagram, it would just be a circle.)
Indiana State Senator Andy Zay (R-Huntington) wants to make the breaded pork tenderloin sandwich, or BPT, the official state sandwich of Indiana. That’s because Zay represents the city where the BPT was invented.
Senate Bill 21 — titled "State Sandwich" — seeks to add a new chapter to the Indiana Code that makes the BPT, made from Indiana-raised pork, "the official state sandwich of Indiana."
This would make the Hoosier state only the third state with a state sandwich. The other two are New Jersey (Pork Roll Egg and Cheese Sandwich) and Massachusetts (the Fluffernutter, made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff).
For those of you who live outside God’s country, a BPT is a pork tenderloin that has been hammered until it’s very thin, coated in batter, and deep-fried in oil. The finished product is about the width of a dinner plate, and it’s served on a normal hamburger bun, which looks rather comical.
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| A BPT in Vevay, IN. I had this with my friend, Kendal Miller. |
The breaded pork tenderloin was first created by Nick Freienstein when he introduced it in his sandwich cart in Huntington, Indiana, about 40 miles south of Fort Wayne. Later, it became a mainstay of the restaurant he opened in 1908.
Nick fondly remembered the Wiener Schnitzel his family sometimes ate, which is a thin, breaded, and pan-fried veal cutlet. Except, veal was not readily available in Northeast Indiana in the early 1900s, but you couldn’t swing a slab of bacon without whacking a pig, so he made a pork version of the Wiener Schnitzel instead.
His BPT is not only considered the first one ever, but it’s also considered the best. I’ve had plenty of tenderloins, but I’ve never eaten at Nick’s, so I’ll have to try his, plus many others, before I can render a final verdict.
A few hours to the west, Iowa has tried to claim the BPT as its own sandwich, but food historians (coolest job ever!) all agree it was Nick Freienstein who created the food of the gods. And it’s Andy Zay who’s going to put a ring on it and make Hoosiers the happiest people on Earth.
When I first heard about Zay’s efforts, I had two thoughts:
1) Excellent! It’s about time that Indiana recognizes the nation’s bestest ever sandwich; and,
2) Wait! Isn’t the pork tenderloin already Indiana’s official state sandwich? Didn’t I already write about it?
It turns out that I have written about the BPT many times in many different publications, but not because it was the official state sandwich. I only thought it was.
Which means I have to apologize, because I have told people, "It’s the official state sandwich. We even voted on it."
Except we never voted on it. Never, not once. We almost voted on it when Zay authored the first sandwich bill — Senate Bill 322 — in 2023. That is, until the Indiana State Senate’s Committee on Commerce and Technology just sat on it like a slab of meat with mittens.
Jerks.
One of the most important issues to ever face the Committee on Commerce and Technology, and they just sat on it? What else were they dealing with?
The 2023 Consumer Data Protection Act (SB 5)?
Oooooooh, big deal!
Who cares if Hoosiers get specific rights for the way their personal data is being processed or sold? You’re voting on the President of Sandwiches, and you skip that for the sake of what? Keeping our data from being hijacked by unscrupulous marketers?
That’s hardly as important as choosing the President of Sandwiches.
If I knew how to phonetically spell a raspberry — when you stick your tongue out and make a derisive fart sound — I would.
We have a state snack (popcorn), which was voted into the official ranks in 2021, and we have an official state pie (sugar cream pie), which was voted in as a senate resolution in 2009.
For you poor non-Hoosiers, sugar cream pie is made from just what it sounds like: sugar and cream. This is not for anyone with diabetes or lactose intolerance.
It’s sugar and cream. There’s no such thing as a Less Sugar Cream Pie, or Garbage Artificial Sweetener Cream Pie.
We’ve got an official state pie, but we don’t have an official state sandwich? Look, Indiana Senate, you need to get your shinola together and vote yes for SB 21. Help the breaded pork tenderloin take its rightful place among the pantheon of state sandwiches.
To those of you who think it’s silly or doesn’t deserve your support, I only have one thing to say to you:
Derisive fart sound.
Photo credit: Erik Deckers (That's me. I took that in Vevay, Indiana with my friend, Kendal Miller).
My new humor novel, Mackinac Island Nation, is finished and available from 4 Horsemen Publications. You can get the ebook and print versions here.