I’m not a huge fan of pastrami. I’ll have the odd Reuben or other pastrami sandwich, but for the most part I can take it or leave it. Except. There’s an Italian market in Culver City where the pastrami sandwich was just about the only thing I’d buy. I don’t know what they did, but it was great. It was in the hot table, floating in juice. Since it’s over 1,200 miles away now, it’s not often I get it.
So today I’m in Cash & Carry, and I happened to see a packet (brick) of sliced pastrami. Why not? I got some provolone cheese, too. So now what? I plan to cook it in the slow-cooker, but what do I put in? Water? (No water is needed when I make roast beef.) Seasonings? Or do I just let it cook in its own juices?
Well, the deli I go to seems pretty authentic (waitresses that call you sweetie and have helmet hair and wear rings on at least five fingers) and they will make Reubens with corned beef or pastrami. I suppose a pastrami Reuben is like a vodka martini – not the original, but a common variation.
If you want to be a purist about it, keep the cheese away from the pastrami. Bread, meat, mustard – that is all.
You can’t lay down the law on what’s a Reuben and omit the sauerkraut. Most delis will give you a choice of meet, but sauerkraut is a defining characteristic. And the cheese would be Swiss, not provolone.
Now that’s a Rachel. And yeah, she’s a great sandwich.
I’ve never had deli grade, homemade, pastrami. Just the pale facisimle, thin sliced, lunchmeat version. I see those juicy, steambox, smoked Katz’s Deli Pastrami Briskets being hand carved in living technicolor on my TV and weep that I have never had such a thing, and perhaps never will. Bucket List… Katz’s.
The I Love New York deli at Pike Place Market has the steam boxes, and they carve the meat right there for you. It’s good, but I like Sorrento’s swimming-in-juice kind better.
I cure and smoke my own pastrami using a recipe I shamelessly lifted from Kenny and Zuke’s in Portland. The last step for me is a good long steam, maybe a couple of hours or more. I put the meat on a rack sitting in the bottom of a broiler pan, then tent the whole arrangement tightly with foil. By the end, the liquid in the pan is more drippings than water, and makes an excellent sauce.
Katz’s will mail pastrami to you. I got a present from there, which came with rye bread, mustard, real pickles, and pastrami. So there is something for your Christmas list.
Do you remember the name of the place? That sounds great.
