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Pastrami
[Yiddish pastrame] A highly seasoned smoked
cut of beef, usually taken from the
shoulder.
Popular deli
meat made from chiefly red meat. The raw
meat is salted (through immersion in a thick
brine), then dried, seasoned with various
herbs and spices (such as garlic, black
pepper, marjoram, basil) and smoked. Aside
from the pepper and smoking, it is similar
in process and flavor to corned beef. In the
United Kingdom and the United States, beef
is used and the meat is boiled after the
salting stage.
Pastrami is a
popular delicatessen meat made principally
from red meat, chiefly brisket. The raw meat
is brined, partly dried, seasoned with
various herbs and spices, then smoked.
Both the dish and the word pastrami were
brought to the United States in a wave of
Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and
Romania in the second half of the 19th
century. The word, derived from the Yiddish:
פפּאַסטראָמע (pronounced pastróme), entered
the Russian language as pastromá (пастрома)
via the Romanian pastramă, and it is likely
rooted in the Turkish pastırma. [1] This in
turn likely originated from a dish known as
basterma in Arab cuisine and basturma in
Armenian cuisine.
Early references in English used the
spelling "pastrama", while its current form
is associated with a Jewish store selling
"pastrami" in New York City in 1887. It is
likely that this spelling was introduced to
sound related to the Italian salami.[2]
[1]
Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române,
Entry for Pastramă
[2] Harry G. Levine, "Pastrami Land,
the Jewish Deli in New York City", Contexts,
Summer 2007 |
