Beef
What's the Difference Between Pastrami & Corned Beef? We Asked Katz's Deli
The New York City-based deli has perfected the recipe for both since the 19th century.
Stepping inside a New York Jewish deli is a spiritual experience. All of my hopes and dreams are served right in front of my eyes, in the form of crispy potato pancakes wrapped in deli paper, a mountainous slice of noodle kugel, and thin, juicy shavings of pastrami on rye bread. But any good Jewish deli will have you answer one major question: pastrami or corned beef? Before you place your next order, learn the true difference between corned beef and pastrami, according to someone who has perfected the art of both: Jake Dell of New York’s Katz’s Delicatessen.
Cut of Meat
“Traditionally, pastrami is a navel cut and corned beef is made with brisket,” explains Dell. Each cut contains different amounts of fat, which translates into how the beef breaks down during the cooking process. The navel contains fat in the middle, whereas the beef brisket has fat mostly along the exterior of the meat. “The fat on the inside means that when you smoke pastrami, it distributes throughout the entire cut of meat,” says Dell.
The Cooking Process
Both pastrami and corned beef are brined, but pastrami is smoked and corned beef is boiled. Pastrami is rubbed with a dry seasoning blend of salt, pepper, coriander, and garlic, “which develops that awesome bark that’s just so delicious.” Some delis may also brine pastrami with mustard seeds, brown sugar, and other pickling spices. Corned beef, on the other hand, is salt cured—hence the corning process.
So Which Is More Popular?
To understand the history of corned beef and pastrami, we have to go back to 1888 when Katz’s Delicatessen first opened and the first Eastern European immigrants settled in New York City. For the first hundred years of business, Dell says that corned beef was twice as popular as pastrami. “For one reason or another, that switched and pastrami now sells double the amount of corned beef each week. We sell 20,000-30,000 pounds of pastrami a week.”
How to Serve Them
The classic preparation for both of them is on rye with mustard. Given how complex the flavor of pastrami is, most people tend to not add more than that. With corned beef, you have more flexibility to turn it into say a hash or Reuben sandwich, says Dell. Plus, there’s always the classic preparation of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day.
Written by: Kelly Vaughan
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17 Comments
Bomb. When I worked in Chicago, I used to frequent a restaurant in a building on Wabash Av near the Carson Pirie Scott store. It was in the lower level of the building and they had the best Reuben sandwich. And great lemon meringue pie!
Also Corned Beef has a very different nature in the UK, & former UK dependent countries - it's usually (almost entirely) a tinned product, made with beef cured with Sodium Nitrite - usually manufactured in either Argentina, Chile, or Brazil. It was one of the earliest foodstuffs to be successfully canned & preserved & was a staple food for allied troops in both world wars. In the UK during & following world war 2, meat rations could be doubled if they were taken as corned beef rather than fresh meat. This was commonly known as Bully Beef.
From deli counters in the UK, the meat usually referred to as Corned Beef in the US is sold as Salt Beef - it's usually a Kosher meat, and certified as such. Pastrami is pretty much the same as in the US. What I would say is that the UK versions of both Salt Beef, and Pastrami seem to be more highly flavoured than their American counterparts.
Corned Beef Hash is generally made from tinned corned beef - although clearly there's no reason why you couldn't make it from something else. Never heard of the St Patrick's day Corned Beef Hash thing, but there is a long standing joke in the UK that you eat Pancakes on Pancake day, and then Corned Beef Hash, on Hash Wednesday - which is very roughly around the same time as St Patricks day. I've certainly made it then. Ireland would be likely to use the same tinned Corned Beef as the UK - in fact I think Irish branded tinned corned beef is available on the Irish Shelves of UK Supermarket. My Son's headed to New York this summer, and already had Katz's Deli on his list - he's wanting pastrami !
I do miss the seeded rye of old with a nice crispy crust.
He flinched not a bit at hearing her name. Come on — this was in Montecito in Santa Barbara — of course he knew.
But, Julia Child if couldn’t make up her mind between pastrami and corned beef, not a one of us needs to be ashamed of our ambivalence.
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