It seems like there's a new unofficial food holiday to celebrate every week, and while it's often hard to trace the holiday's origin, we have no problem celebrating them. Today is National Pastrami Sandwich day, and that's as good an excuse as any to dig into a meaty, overflowing sandwich.
There's a reason why pastrami tastes unlike any other kind of sandwich meat. It originated in the 19th century as a way to preserve meat before refrigeration was commonplace in homes. It's made through a long, delicious process of brining, drying, spicing, smoking and steaming the big hunk of meat until it's pink, crusted in spice, and juicy, National Day Calendar noted. They've become the classic sandwich order at New York delicatessens.
The pastrami sandwich is originally Romanian and came to America in the 1880s along with a wave of Romanian-Jewish immigrants. The word "pastrami" comes from Turkish, as "romania was part of the Ottoman Empire, and if you look up the word 'pastırma' in Turkish, the word bastır means 'to press' or 'to cure.' And it's the same origin of the word in Romanian," says Lara Rabinovitch, a food journalist with a PhD in modern Jewish history, according to Serious Eats. Pastirma was cured, uncooked sliced mutton or pork, similar to ham.
Pastirma came to North America with the immigrants who yearned for the food of their home and settled in two major centers: New York and Montreal. It eventually morphed into pastrami (in New York) and the more thickly-sliced smoked meat (in Montreal).
In both major pastirma centers, the meat is sliced and served on rye bread with coleslaw, a pickle, sauerkraut and yellow mustard.
Here's a great, very doable pastrami sandwich recipe from Lady and Pups. Don't be intimidated, it's straightforward and so, so worth the minimal labor. If you're not up to the project, go out and get one at a deli. Happy Pastrami Day!
