Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on March 12, 2020

I wish the pastrami and corned beef were sliced with knives, as they are at Katzs Delicatessen. On the other hand, Pastrami Masters makes sandwiches in four sizes, not just a single one the size of a hiking boot. Neither deli uses rye worth singing about. As for the pastrami, if it were not for the different slicing techniques, Id call it a tie.

The Lebanese food was more convincing before the change of ownership. The falafel lately has been densely packed and gummy; makdous, baby eggplants stuffed with spiced chopped walnuts, have been bland and rubbery; the dips and salads have wanted salt and another squeeze of lemon. Lamb shawarma is still wonderful, though, so thickly seasoned with cloves, pepper, cinnamon and other spices that it is almost furry. And while the kenafeh I had gave the impression of having been stashed in the dessert case too long, the baklava is still sweetly evocative, doused with just enough rose water to give you the sensation of lying on a bed near an open window next to a rosebush on a warm night in June.

These are nice embellishments, but when you go to Pastrami Masters your main objective will be one form of brisket or another served in some old-fashioned New York way. This is not, to be clear, a modern, artisanal product of the kind that people now associate with Brooklyn, with meat from weird-looking heritage breeds and Levantine spices that flew to the United States in their own business-class seat. For that kind of pastrami sandwich, now that Harry & Idas is gone, your best bet is lunch at the new Hometown BBQ in Industry City, where the meat is smoked on site and sliced as thick as dominoes.

It is very good, but it has a little more Texas in it than the archetypal skyscraper sandwich from a New York deli, which is what you get at Pastrami Masters. Naturally, a full line of Dr. Browns canned sodas is available. As always, Cel-Ray with hot pastrami on rye is a beverage pairing as harmonious as Muscadet with oysters.

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See the rest here:
Where Pastrami on Rye Rubs Elbows With Falafel and Baklava - The New York Times

Category: Jewish American Heritage Month
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