nosh nook #171 - monday, november 9, 2009

'save the deli: in search of perfect pastrami, crusty rye, and the heart of jewish delicatessen' by david sax (link)
11.8.09 - l.a. times - by rich cohen

other than one time a few years back, i've never been into any of the famous jewish delis here in nyc. that one time was when a couple of friends came to the city to visit & we spent most of the weekend walking around the city drinking & stopping for food when necessary. one of those stops was at katz's, a landmark deli in downtown nyc. if my memory serves me correctly, both friends got the pastrami on rye, a sandwich of extraordinary magnitude priced somewhere around $15. i passed, as that's far too much $ and meaty sandwich for my tastes.

katz's is all famous & has been around for forever, but according to david sax's book on jewish delis, "save the deli: in search of the perfect pastrami, crusty rye, and the heart of the jewish delicatessen," it isn't the best jewish deli in the country. that honor goes to junior's (in l.a.). sax's book, which came out last month, has been getting quite a bit of press lately. npr, the ny times..."respectable" stuff. yesterday, the l.a. times' rich cohen decided to take a look at the book, which details sax's cross-continent study of jewish delis, their history & their traditions. for the most part, cohen seemed to enjoy the book & even referred to it as "deeply satisfying" at one point.

i asked this one friend of mine who's totally jewish & he insured me that jewish delis are a pretty big thing. "institutions" he called them. they've got tender, smoked meats that people go wild for, but as the times notes, sax found that they're sort of in decline. rent & meat prices are rising & lack of interest in jewish culinary tradition is waning. as a famous jew once said, "the times, they are a changin." from cohen's review the book sounds like an interesting read, "organized by region, each section opening with a quick history of the local jews, a kind of encyclopedia entry that has the not unpleasant effect of attaching the story of the hebrews to the story of their delis." so yeah, if you're into food & culture & reading about LOTS of smoked, tender meats, it sounds like this book is right up your alley.