[Sca-cooks] OOP ethnic silly question...and holiday greetings!

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Dec 21, 2008, at 11:08 AM, Susan Fox wrote:

> I seem to recall that a Reuben is properly made with corned beef,  
> but what is pastrami but corned beef with extra spices?

It has extra spices (usually a dry rub including paprika, black  
pepper, and celery seed), plus lots of garlic, and it is smoked. Plus,  
die echte pastrami around here, anyway, is a slightly different cut  
from the brisket often associated with corned beef (we won't even  
discuss the round that is sometimes found in those areas where the  
object of the game is to insult the memory of corned beef); it is  
plate, a belly cut with lots of fat and connective tissue, which needs  
long, slow cooking, but which in combination with all that seasoning,  
when properly cooked, is nothing less than sublime.

I posted an inquiry here about that a few weeks ago, when I found  
reasonably-priced, large hunks of pastrami in one of the neighborhood  
markets -- the only problem being the need for cooking said beast, and  
the lore necessary for doing it right. (I found that in lieu of the  
traditional steaming, which is what is done in large Kosher  
delicatessens, a double layer of foil and a slow, low-temperature  
roasting for many hours produces a moist, tender, almost confit-like  
meat capable of inducing sexual climax over long distances from  
pheromone action alone.)

>  In this particular cuisine anyway, I'm not getting into a history  
> of bsturma right now.
>> I am now, of course, suffering a terminal "Jewish deli"  
>> jones....and we don't have one in the entire state of  
>> Montana....although a friend who lives in Queens is enticing me to  
>> come visit, by telling me all about the great places to eat in NYC  
>> (which, of course, reminded me strongly of Master A!).

Hey, what with one thing and another, I don't get to eat in most of  
these places, either! That's why I have to figure out how to cook  
pastrami.

Adamantius








"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls,  
when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's  
bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter