Save the Deli

In his new book "Save the Deli" journalist David Sax brings attention to the plight of the Jewish deli. Dedicated to the preservation of the Jewish delicatessen, a hallowed temple of salted and cured meats" it reads in his mission statement.
Seems that people just don't flock to a good deli the way they did 50 years ago. As such, there is little reason to do things the old school way.

It was purely but chance though that he was at Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan when we payed a visit for lunch. It was however unfortunate that he'd stepped out for a bit while we were there so we weren't able to meet him. I did purchase a copy of his book and I was able to get an employee of Zingerman's to get it autographed and mailed to me. I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Zingerman's does do some old school stuff but also sources out other items. The corned beef is their own recipe and for the pastrami they created the recipe with their good friend Sy Ginsberg.
As for the food it was fantastic. We spent that night in Indianapolis and we only needed a small bite for dinner. We were both still happy and satisfied.

First up was my pastrami. It came on rye with Swiss cheese and grilled onions. The sandwich is then grilled which I really didn't feel did much to improve the sandwich. I would order it not grilled next time if I could. The pastrami its self was very good however not the best I've had. Had I done my homework a little better I'd have taken Z's advice and orderd the #48, Binny's Brooklyn Reuben. Just like a regular Reuben but with pastrami instead.

The real star was the Reuben though. Mrs. Sippi ordered her favourite sandwich and it was just plain excellent. Zingerman's own corned beef was definitely the best I've had. Very tender and had a flavour profile that I didn't find was as intense as I'm used to. It was perfectly balanced with the kraut and Swiss.

Our lunch guest ordered a roast beef sandwich. It came with cheddar cheese, lettuce & hot mustard on an onion roll. I did not sample it but he said it was quite good.

All three fressors came with a fantastic sour pickle.

We had a side order of mac and cheese and a kinish. Both were very good as well. I'd never had a knish and really didn't know what I was getting. It's always great to find something new.

Any open product is available for sampling. As you can tell by the picture it was busy so we didn't do much sampling. We did manage to get tastes of spicy anchovies and their Montreal smoked meat. The smoked meat had a good smoke profile and a beefy flavour but lacked any flavour of the brine. The girl who we were talking to said that they're going to develop their own recipe for this.

Well that's all from the Food Court for now. 'Til next time.


Davwud