Pastrami

pastrami

What it is

Romanian Jewish immigrants brought pastramă — from the Turkish pastırma — to the Lower East Side in the late nineteenth century, having made it at home from goose breast. Beef navel was cheaper than goose in America, and that single substitution is the reason pastrami is a beef product at all.

In the kitchen

The last step is steam, not smoke: an hour or more of it, until a probe slides in against no resistance, around 95 °C at the centre. Smoked but unsteamed pastrami is the usual failure, and slicing it thinner does not rescue it.

Goes with

Rye berries Dijon mustard Cornichon Sauerkraut Black pepper Coriander seed Gruyère

Same species

Abura-kasu Amourettes (spinal marrow) Spider steak Bastourma Flank steak Beef

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