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Is someone going to tell jim that pastrami is brisket?

Nah. One less person in line at Franklin some day.

Ok then what the hell is it? At this Deli, they have Pastrami and Brisket listed separately. I asked the guy and it's one of those places where they give you a hard time, so he never really answered but just gave me a slice. It was bland and fatty. Tasted like a bad pot roast to me.

I love Pastrami.

Apparently the President loves this place. In fact here is the joker (Not Obama) who gave me a hard time (called my wife my daughter etc...):

jim wrote:Ok then what the hell is it? At this Deli, they have Pastrami and Brisket listed separately. I asked the guy and it's one of those places where they give you a hard time, so he never really answered but just gave me a slice. It was bland and fatty. Tasted like a bad pot roast to me.

I love Pastrami.

Apparently the President loves this place. In fact here is the joker (Not Obama) who gave me a hard time (called my wife my daughter etc...):

Brisket is a cut of meat. Corned beef and pastrami are both made from that cut. They're cured (soaked in a salt/spice solution), and then cooked. Pastrami is smoked and has some extra spices going on.

I can see that brisket that is not corned or pastrami at a deli could be hit or miss. If I owned a deli, I can't really think of a good reason to offer brisket that's not corned beef or pastrami. On the other hand, brisket is IMO the most vital part of a good BBQ place. Because of the time and care it takes to properly smoke a brisket, it's a far better litmus test for "Is this BBQ place any good?" than the much-easier ribs or chicken.

I agree. Similarly, deli brisket is more difficult to nail than pastrami or corned beef.

Had a delicious brisket sandwich at that Jewish deli place in Indy that ghost recommended

"its crazy" how all these industries have these classifications, sub classifications, designations etc in their specific world. easy to overlook, get lost in it.

Jocephus wrote:"its crazy" how all these industries have these classifications, sub classifications, designations etc in their specific world. easy to overlook, get lost in it.

I just finished a 450-page book on Spanish (mostly Basque/Catalonia) charcuterie. 450 pages on how one very specific part of the world ferments and preserves pork and fish and a little beef. As a kid who grew up with either store-bought hard salami or deer salami from a hunt, it blows my mind that there are so many ways to cure meat.

Charcuteria? What'd you think? Someone told me that was great. I think I need to read Ruhlman's book first though, which is sitting on a shelf at my house.

It's awesome. Ruhlman's is boring by comparison. Charcuteria you get a lot of tradition and story, especially the tradition of the Matanza. That's a 2-4 day celebration where the family takes a pig they've raised and love, very humanely kill it. The men butcher it, they use the whole animal, the "sabias" (little old ladies in the family) make the charcuterie. It's pretty fascinating, and something we're looking at as a bar concept.