Hot pastrami

December 4, 2008 - 10:50 AM by

I shouldn’t be stating this here, on a blog that should be touting everything Israeli. But let’s face it, to say that the deli meats here bite the big one means you’re actually able to take a bite. Which is kind of incredible, we’re a country of Jews, and kosher deli and Jews go together like pastrami on rye with mustard.

So after being away in the US for a full month, I couldn’t think of a better present to bring back to my long-suffering wife, deprieved of both me for a month and good deli for 20 some years, a pound of fresh corned beef from our favorite kosher deli – Rubin’s in Boston. Call me a hopeless romantic.

Actually, I’ll explain why it’s a better present than a diamond ring. Way back when, when we were both in college in Boston, my wife worked the Sunday waitress shift at Rubin’s. I’d drive and pick her up in Brookline at the end of her 12 hour shift, and she’d come into the car carrying various delicacies like knishes, stuffed cabbage and, of course, some fresh deli, and her uniform would be entrenched with the aromas of a day’s worth of food. I could hardly wait to jump on her, but first we’d go home and pig out – in a kosher way.

Since most of my visits back to the US have been solo recently, we always joked about me bringing her back a taste of the past. But I never thought it would be possible, given the 24-hour door to door travel and the logistics of bringing a pound of beef through the homeland security glare.

But last week, I threw caution to the wind, and after feasting on a pastrami sandwich with a side of potato salad and a Dr. Brown’s, I bought the pound of corned beef, threw it in the trunk of the car in the 35 degree weather and dashed the two hours back to my brother’s home in Maine. Then straight to the freezer with the fragile treasure.

On the morning of my flight, I packed the corned beef with an ice pack, wrapped it in plastic and placed deep in the oversized army knapsack I borrowed from my daughter. 22 hours later, in my kitchen in Israel, the corned beef was thawed, cool, and heaped high on some pita (hey, we’re in Israel). My wife was in heaven, and later, we remembered the aphrodisiac qualities that good kosher deli provides.

Tags: , , , • Category: Food, Israeliness, Life 

Comments

5 Comments on Hot pastrami

  1. Karin Kloosterman on Thu, Dec 4th 2008 11:24 AM

    2. Man this picture makes me hungry…

  2. Larry in LA on Fri, Dec 5th 2008 11:27 AM

    3. Maybe you should add the word “horny” to the tags for the post….

  3. Rattling the Kettle on Fri, Dec 5th 2008 11:28 AM

    4. I miss good deli, too — and I’m just in Los Angeles. Though we have as big a Jewish population as New York, none of them thought to bring the recipe for good pastrami.

  4. FAL on Mon, Dec 22nd 2008 3:26 PM

    5. Yes, pastrami and corned beef certainly are a comfort food. However, New York and environs always had/has the best. You mentioned Rubens in the Brookline, Ma area and on a trip a few years ago i did have the misfortune of eating in that establishment. Not good at all. But i guess if you have never tasted the best, then you would never know. Try Ben’s Kosher New York Deli in NYC, Long Island, and Boca Raton, florida if you really want to know what WONDERFUL comfort food is and how it should really taste.

  5. Moses on Mon, Mar 9th 2009 4:52 PM

    6. The reason there is no good deli in Israel is because of the religous. Kosher (strictly) and good can not exist together. It is not the fact no one brought the recipe, remember the only GOOD delis in New York weren’t Kosher as far as the Orthodox are concerned. Bernsteins was good until that ultra orthodox crook bought it, and then my (non orthodox) ex in laws helped him destroy it into non existance. (Let’s not forget there aren’t any good shawarma restaurants anywhere here in Jerusalem and the country is supposedly known for it’s Shawarma!)

    Sarges, Katz’s, The Second Avenue Deli aren’t kosher but they are aguably the best delis in the world!

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