Katz's Pastrami.

[porkpa]

Elsewhere on this board a poster makes reference to the fact that you once had a NYC Pastrami tasting and Katz's did not win. I find this hard to understand. Who did win? In what ways was this product superior to Katz?

Porkpa

[Bill Klapp]

Porkpa, worry not. That Katz's is the best is a fact. Any other conclusion is merely an opinion, however well-informed or well-intentioned. At all other delis, pastrami should be eaten with a schmear of chopped liver, in order to add extra richness and flavor so that you may be fooled into thinking you are eating Katz's pastrami!

[Jeffrey Steingarten]

Hey, I challenge that!

I can't imagine who said that I don't consider Katz's the best. Yes, it is the best. Jonathan Gold opines, I believe, that Langers's in L.A. is best. I've quite a bit of it--Niman Ranch's version, at least one of their versions, is quite similar and quite delicious. You might call it spiced and pickled beef. The smoke taste is often absent because they don't smoke it; they (Niman's at least) use liquid smoke, though not really offensively. I love Nimans--though only that made from the thick, fatty, double end of the brisket , which you must specify when you order it; and then you must steam it for a long, long time. They don't understand the proper texture. But even then, the result is not quite pastrami.

When Ed Levine and I had a pastrami tasting on TV, Katz's won.

When I participated in Ed's tasting in preparation for his NYTimes article, Katz's did win.

When I was part of a Slow Food tasting, all the wrong brands won. I am not one to make religious slurs--actually, I am but not here. And anyway, Andre Soltner could not be fooled by gentile pastrami. But a chief member of the taste panel didn't like pastrami, and several others had similar character problems. I kept my Slow Food membership, even though they didn't even know what kind of bread on which to serve the pastrami. It was like being half surrounded by a group of Diane Keatons.

[twodogs]

i must add a dark cloud to katz's apparently legendary pastrami hierarchy. it was once great, and i would double park for a sandwich on the run, but in recent times the pastrami has been lackluster. i am currently at a loss; most particularly for great pastrami.

cheers

[VivreManger]

I have been reading about 2nd Ave. Deli recently and I wonder if anyone else puts it in the Katz's league. Apparently their strength is corned beef, rather than pastrami.

As for Langer's, it is not spicy and assertive enough for me, but it is quite good.

[jogoode]

More Katz's talk in the NY forum, here.