Deli

I just bought myself “Save The Deli” by David Sax. Checking up on recent Amazon orders, tracking packages, I was sent ten top cookbooks by Amazon and had to check them out. Especially since it mentioned there may be one good deli here in Mormon Country.

Deli was not what I grew up with, in a small village in upstate New York. It was after college that I learned about bagels. I read about how they were made and know the feel and taste of a really good one. I also knew when our Irish assistant bought “bagels” for our legislative committee that included several NYC Jewish bagel experts (she also bought a bagel slicer, laughingstock of the meeting) I told her they were not bagels at all but rolls with a hole in the middle. I explained the water bath process yet she insisted on serving them for breakfast. What did they say? “These aren’t bagels, they’re rolls with a hole in the middle!” ‘Nuff said.

I did get to Dairy Planet in NYC once, for pierogies. Stage Deli, Carnegie Deli. In Texas I had to go to Katz’s every couple of months for a hot pastrami on rye and one latke. Sour cream and applesauce. Once I made matzoh ball soup with a NYTimes recipe that called for 1T vodka. I’ve tried for 20 years to find the recipe again as those were the lightest matzoh balls I’ve ever had. Very delicate. No luck.

Digressing from my story as I become more excited and hungry for deli foods I’ll tell you that my first adventure into smoked meats was in Montreal. My mother grew up there, and Ben’s was their favorite Deli. There are family stories of sweethearts meeting there for the first time. It was a big deal in the Depression (the 30’s, not this one). Smoked meat was a treasure my dear Aunt Joan used to buy and make at home for us, steaming it until just warm and serving it on good rye bread with deli mustard. When I was old enough I’d go to Ben’s when visiting and add a Molsen Ale to that order. The book I just ordered, when it arrives, may tell me more of the smoked meat tradition in Canada (Montreal) but I find it much more delicate than pastrami or corned beef.

Now a funny bit: a lady asked the butcher at a local grocer for corned beef for her father-in-law who was visiting. We’re talking Utah! Even in TX they sell corned beef “kits” to cook at home, plus mesquite brisket that I miss terribly. The butcher couldn’t think of a source around here for good deli meats. Hot pastrami, rye bread, deli mustard, a pickle, a latke. I can almost smell it. My husband got a car for Christmas. I got a music book. Perhaps he can find me a sandwich… Cheers! Dee