The LuLac Edition #4, 680, February 1st, 2022

 

MAYBE I’M  AMAZED

Our “Maybe I’m Amazed” logo.

(Photo: Delish.com)

CORNED BEEF & PASTRAMI EDITION 

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that Corned Beef is known as salt beef in England.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that Pastrami comes from the cow's navel area and is fatty which helps it stand up to the long cooking process.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that Corned beef was a popular meal throughout numerous wars, including World War I and World War II, during which fresh meat was rationed.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that when you eat it, pastrami is less stringy than corned beef tends to be.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that the industrial production of corned beef started in the British Industrial Revolution. Irish corned beef was used and traded extensively from the 17th century to the mid-19th century for British civilian consumption and as provisions for the British naval fleets and North American armies due to its nonperishable nature.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that pastrami is seasoned with a dry spice mix, smoked, and then often steamed again before serving." The seasoning used after the brining is pretty similar to what's used in the salty brine.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……Ireland produced a significant amount of the corned beef in the Atlantic trade from local cattle and salt imported from the Iberian Peninsula and southwestern France.  Coastal cities, such as Dublin, Belfast and Cork, created vast beef curing and packing industries, with Cork producing half of Ireland's annual beef exports in 1668.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that Pastrami is  a Romanian dish usually made from beef brisket, and sometimes from lamb, or turkey. The raw meat is brined, partially dried, seasoned with herbs and spices, then smoked and steamed.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..today large  amounts of the global canned corned beef supply comes from South America. Approximately 80% of the global canned corned beef supply originates in Brazil. During WWII it came from Uruguay.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED……that New York's Sussman Volk is generally credited with producing the first pastrami sandwich in the United States in 1887. Volk, a kosher butcher and New York immigrant from Lithuania, claimed he got the recipe from a Romanian friend in exchange for storing the friend's luggage while the friend returned to Romania.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED….that Corned beef is often purchased ready to eat in Jewish delicatessens. It is the key ingredient in the grilled Reuben sandwich, consisting of corned beef, Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island or Russian dressing on rye bread. Smoking corned beef, typically with a generally similar spice mix, produces smoked meat (or "smoked beef") such as pastrami or Montreal-style smoked meat.  Corned beef hashed with potatoes is commonly served with eggs for breakfast. On St. Patrick’s Day, this old Slovak boy from Pittston cooks up some corned beef with Russet potatoes, carrots and one big ass onion for the holiday.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…….that Greek immigrants to Salt Lake City in the early 1960s introduced a cheeseburger topped with pastrami and a special sauce. The pastrami cheeseburger has since remained a staple of local burger chains in Utah.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that the name pastrami comes from Romanian pastramă, a conjugation of the Romanian verb a păstra meaning "to preserve food, to keep something for a long duration" whose etymology may be linked to the Turkish pastırma.

MAYBE I’M AMAZED…..that you can get either Corned Beef or Pastrami on line from the original Katz deli in New York City where te iconic scene with Meg Ryan, Billy Crystal and Rob Reiner’s mom was filmed. Also there will be an authentic Jewish deli opening up in Kingston pretty son where you can grab kosher versions of Pastrami and Corned Beef.