Pastrami
Bos taurus · Meat
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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.
Picking a good onedrag
Freshly carved: rosy and wet, crust dry, clean smokeOff: slimy, sour, grey-green or mouldy
Sound and chilledBuy itFine cold from the pack. If you are pregnant, 65 or older, or immunocompromised, heat it to 165F or steaming hot first: rarely, Listeria.
The carved facePink right through: that is the cure, not rare
The pepper-coriander barkCrust whole, a little of it lost to the slicer
Feel of a sliceMoist and soft, but nothing tacky anywhere
Smell, once openedSmoke gentler, clean salt beef underneath