Outside Counsel

My Charcuterie adventure, the Pastrami Project concluded Sunday with a sandwich. I'd rate it a success, and shall now document it here.

I started with a commercial corned beef brisket, which I soaked overnight in cold water in order to de-salt it. I'm tempted to try salt curing my own brisket next time, but will probably just go for a two day soak-- I need to understand the overall  process a little better. The rub I used, on the other hand, was pretty near spot-on. The goal, as set out in the recipe I was following, was to duplicate as closely as possible the pastrami at Katz's Deli. The dominant flavor notes were pepper and coriander, but the garlic powder chimed in nicely. I might bring a bit more brown sugar into it, but that's really a question of flavor balance-- perhaps dark brown sugar would work a bit better?


I was worried that the rub was too fine, but as we will see at the end I got a nice crust, so that turned out to be a non-issue. I wrapped it up like Roy Obison in cling film. The seasoned brisket then sat in the refrigerator for a week.





Saturday I fired up the smoker. The recipe said that the pastrami could take "all the smoke you can throw at it," so I resisted the temptation to give it three or four hours then finish in the oven. It went ten hours, and might have gone a bit longer. I did not resort to the "Texas Crutch" because I was concerned that aluminum foil might react with the rub, but we ultimately attained an internal temperature of 200°.




Right off the smoker. I cut a corner off and had a nibble. The flavor was right there: complex, mouth-filling, but it was a bit chewy yet. I thought about re-wrapping it, but I didn't want to disturb the rub, so I let it rest overnight under a glass bowl, at room temperature.

At lunchtime the yesterday I broke out the wok, and brought on the steam.

The goal was, again, an internal temperature of 200°. The house smelled great. The garlic notes were there, and the coriander. We'd braved the hipster hoards and been to the Winter Market at Horsefeathers the day before and come home with a sourdough rye from the Elm Street Bakery, so I had a hearty artisanal loaf for my foundation.


For some reason A does not go in for pastrami, or deli at all. On those rare occasions when we have been to Katz's together she orders soup. Too bad, because this was a triumph of the sandwich maker's art. As good as Katz's? Oh, no. That is something to aspire to, not something that any reasonable person might expect from a first attempt.
As good as any pastrami I've had north of Rockland County? Absolutely. Although I could have driven to Houston Street in the time it took to make this (seriously-- I would even have had time to find a place to park), I can honestly say that this is the pastrami sandwich I have been waiting to eat in Buffalo since I moved here. I had a Hop Devil with it-- a big improvement over the mostly indifferent beer available at Katz's, but perhaps not the exact right paring. A good pilsner would work better- there is too much going on flavor-wise with the meat for an IPA to be ideal.