Pastrami is cured, spiced and smoked beef — a slab of brisket or fattier navel cut that is brined, rubbed thick with cracked black pepper and coriander, cold-smoked and then steamed until it carves into deep-red, peppery, melting slices. The heart of the New York Jewish deli, it is piled hot and high on rye with mustard, and traces its lineage to the pastramă of Romanian-Jewish kitchens.