Tell that to my rabbi. :eek:
Whoops! Sorry about that. Just saying that I like provolone with pastrami (and cheddar, Swiss, or pepperjack with roast beef, feta with basturma, American on burgers…). No offense intended.
As you might notice from my location, I have lived in lots of cities.
In LA, Canter’s Deli on Fairfax had some great pastrami (as well as corned beef) but to be quite honest, you have never eaten real pastrami (or corned beef) until you live in NYC. (Plus, you will run into a lot of celebrities if you go at odd hours, especially late at night!)
Some people go to NYC for theater, art, nightlife - I head straight for a deli when I get there.
Tried to re-edit post above: I meant you would run into a lot of celebrities at Canters in LA if you go late at night. At least when I lived there, it was open 24 hours a day and you would see the rock stars and Hollywood actors/actresses showing up at 3 and 4 in the morning after a night of partying. Not that that was a reason to go there - the food was damned good for LA - try their Matza Ball Soup as well! Still - nothing beats NYC.
Katz’s is overrated and overpriced. Go to the 2nd Avenue Deli (which is no longer on 2nd Avenue, but the name remains).
If you’ve never put fried onions on your pastrami sandwich, you’re missing one of the great earthly pleasures.
That said, I don’t believe the liquid I’ve seen pastrami taken from in varioius delis of at carving tables of banquets has ever been anything but water, from the steam used to keep it hot and moist.
That’s the thing. Sorrento Italian Market is not a Jewish deli. They don’t have the steam boxes, and they don’t carve to order. What they have is a steam table for the hot food they’ve already cooked. So you have this stainless steel container with sliced pastrami in it, and it’s in liquid. It’s too much liquid for it to just be meat juices.
As I said, when I make ‘BBQ beef’ sandwiches I don’t use water in the slow-cooker. But then, I don’t want the beef swimming in liquid. For the pastrami, it seems that being in liquid is the major difference between Italian pastrami and deli pastrami. I’ve never cooked pastrami, so the question is: What is the liquid? If it’s water, it seems it would take away a bit of the flavour of the pastrami. Unless it’s seasoned. (Sorrento’s pastrami is a bit on the salty side, which I like.) So is it just water? Water with salt? Water with salt and other seasonings? If so, what would the other seasonings be?
I don’t have a steam box, I want to make it the Italian way, and I want to cook it unattended in the slow-cooker.
I ended up putting about two cups of water with the pastrami in the slow-cooker, and it’s been going for about three hours. Just finished a sandwich (with provolone and mustard). It was good! I liked it better than many or most of the deli-style steamed pastrami sandwiches I’ve had, but it wasn’t quite as good as Sorrento’s. I suspect two things: First, they probably use better meat. Second, I couldn’t find an Italian roll at the market, so I got ‘homemade’ hoagie rolls. This might turn me from a ‘take-or-leave pastrami’ guy to someone who has it more than once or twice a year.
Not to me, being an atheist who likes cheeseburgers. But a lot of this Jewish type food has to be considered in the context of its history, I got brought up with pastrami and just mustard on rye, and the best real delis will serve it that way.
I know what I’m having for lunch Monday!