Pastrami

Pastrami — beef brisket (or navel/plate) cured in a spiced brine, coated in a crust of black pepper and coriander, smoked over hardwood, then steamed for hours until impossibly tender — is the defining product of the Jewish-American deli and one of the most technically complex cured meats in any tradition. The technique descends from Romanian *pastramă* (cured, dried goat or mutton) brought by Romanian Jewish immigrants to New York's Lower East Side in the late 19th century. The adaptation — beef instead of goat, smoking added, steaming added — transformed a Romanian peasant preservation into the pinnacle of the New York deli. Katz's Delicatessen (operating since 1888 on Houston Street) is the benchmark; the pastrami sandwich at Katz's is arguably the most famous single sandwich in the world.

Beef brisket (the navel cut is traditional — fattier than the flat, more forgiving during the long process) cured for 5-7 days in a brine of salt, sugar, garlic, curing salt (sodium nitrite for colour preservation and flavour), and pickling spices (coriander, mustard seed, bay leaf, allspice, clove). After curing, the exterior is coated thickly in coarsely ground black pepper and coriander seed. The coated brisket is smoked over hardwood (traditionally oak or hickory) at low temperature (100-120°C) for 4-6 hours until the exterior is dark and the smoke has penetrated. Finally, the smoked brisket is steamed for 2-3 hours until the internal temperature reaches 93-96°C and the meat is spectacularly tender — falling apart when sliced against the grain. The finished pastrami should be pink throughout (from the curing salt), ringed with a dark, peppery bark, and so tender that each slice can be folded without breaking.

On rye bread with spicy brown mustard. Half-sour pickles (AM4-12) on the side. Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda (celery-flavoured soda — the Katz's pairing). Or a cream soda. The fat and pepper of the pastrami want acid (the mustard, the pickle) and something effervescent.