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pastrami

 
Dictionary: pas·tra·mi   (pə-strä') pronunciation
n., pl., -mis.
A highly seasoned smoked cut of beef, usually taken from the shoulder.

[Yiddish pastrame, from Romanian pastramă, from păstra, to preserve, from Vulgar Latin *parsitāre, to spare, save, from parsus, past participle of Latin parcere, to be thrifty with.]


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Food and Nutrition: pastrami
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Middle-European (especially Romanian-Jewish); smoked and seasoned beef, also made from turkey. Known in Canada as smoked beef.

[puh-STRAH-mee] A highly seasoned beef made from a cut of plate, brisket or round. After the fat is trimmed, the meat's surface is rubbed with salt and a seasoning paste that can include garlic, ground peppercorns, cinnamon, red pepper, cloves, allspice and coriander seeds. The meat is dry-cured, smoked and cooked. Pastrami can be served hot or cold, usually as a sandwich on rye bread. It's widely available in chunks or presliced in most supermarkets.

Wikipedia: Pastrami
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Pastrami slices

Pastrami is a popular delicatessen meat made principally from red meat, chiefly brisket. The raw meat is brined, partly dried, seasoned with various herbs and spices, then smoked.

Contents

Origin

Both the dish and the word pastrami were brought to the United States in a wave of Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century. The word, derived from the Yiddish: פפּאַסטראָמע (pronounced pastróme), entered the Russian language as pastromá (пастрома) via the Romanian pastramă, and it is likely rooted in the Turkish pastırma.[1]

Early references in English used the spelling "pastrama", while its current form is associated with a Jewish store: Pedro Fiorito, selling "pastrami" in New York City in 1887. It is likely that this spelling was introduced to sound related to the Italian salami.[2]

Preparation and serving

Pastrami pizza

Pastrami, like corned beef, was created as a method for preserving meat before modern refrigeration. This technique is now unnecessary, but its unique flavor still attracts aficionados.

Traditional New York pastrami is made from the navel end of the brisket.[citation needed] It is first cured in brine and then coated with a mix of spices, such as garlic, coriander, black pepper, paprika, cloves, allspice, mustard seed,[3][4] and smoked.

In North America, pastrami is typically sliced and served in extreme proportions, hot on rye bread, a classic New York deli sandwich (Pastrami on Rye), sometimes accompanied by coleslaw and Russian dressing. Kaiser roll and baguette may be used as a basis for pastrami sandwiches. Pastrami and coleslaw are also combined in a Rachel sandwich, a variation of the popular Reuben sandwich that traditionally uses corned beef and sauerkraut.

Pastrami sandwich

Variations

Unlike the Jewish and modern American derivatives, mutton was historically used for pastramă in Romania. Over time beef became the norm.[citation needed]

Turkey pastrami is made by processing turkey breast in a fashion similar to red meat pastrami, simulating the corresponding red meat deli product. Turkey pastrami, and the closely related chicken breast pastrami, are very popular meat products in Israel, mainly because of their low fat content and undisputable kashrut status.[5] Israeli pastrama (stress on the second syllable, as in pastrami) is typically served cold in sandwiches on a variety of rolls and buns, including individual-sized baguettes, pita pockets, focaccia breads, and even croissants.[6] It is also a standard ingredient in platters of cold cuts. Beef and pork pastrama is also available in Israel, but on a more limited scale—due to theological considerations, as far as pork is concerned.[7] In New York City, the famous smoked fish delicatessen Barney Greengrass the Sturgeon King sells "Pastrami Salmon," which is essentially a piece of salmon coated in cracked peppercorns and smoked.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ Dicţionarul explicativ al limbii române, Entry for Pastramă
  2. ^ Harry G. Levine, "Pastrami Land, the Jewish Deli in New York City", Contexts, Summer 2007, p. 68
  3. ^ "Pastrami rub": seasoning for pastrami
  4. ^ Pastrami seasoning mix
  5. ^ Turkey and chicken pastrama products on Maadanei Yehiam web site
  6. ^ Serving suggestions for turkey pastrami on Soglowek Food Industries web site (Hebrew).
  7. ^ Beef and pork pastramis on Maadanei Mizra web site
  8. ^ Description on Barney Greengrass store website at [1].

Translations: Pastrami
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Dansk (Danish)
n. - røget og stærkt krydret oksebov

Nederlands (Dutch)
scherp gekruid gerookt rundvlees

Français (French)
n. - b¯uf fumé

Deutsch (German)
n. - geräuchertes, stark gewürztes Schulterstück vom Rind

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - παστράμι (καπνιστό κρέας)

Italiano (Italian)
insaccato di manzo speziato e salato

Português (Portuguese)
n. - pastrami (m) (carne defumada)

Русский (Russian)
копченая говядина/индюшатина

Español (Spanish)
n. - pastrami, fiambre/embutido de carne de vaca adobada

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - rökt kryddat oxkött

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
熏牛肉之一种

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 燻牛肉之一種

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 훈제 소고기의 일종 (등심살을 재료로 한 향기 짙은)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - パストラーミ, パストラミ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) البسطرما : لحم مقدد معالج بالتوابل‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮בשר מעושן‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food and Nutrition. A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2005 by A. E. Bender and D. A. Bender. All rights reserved.  Read more
Food Lover's Companion. Food Lover's Companion. Copyright © 2001 by Barron's Educational Series, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Pastrami" Read more
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