Pastrami

Etymology and origin

The name pastrami likely comes from the Romanian verb "a păstra", meaning to preserve or to keep, referencing a traditional method of meat preservation prevalent before refrigeration. Ultimately, it was probably derived from the Turkish pastirma.

Pastrami was introduced to the United States in a wave of Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century, with the Yiddish pastrame. The modified "pastrami" spelling was probably introduced in imitation of the American English salami. Romanian Jews immigrated to New York as early as 1872. Among Jewish Romanians, goose breasts were commonly made into pastrami because they were available. Beef navel was cheaper than goose meat in America, so the Romanian Jews in America adapted their recipe and began to make the cheaper alternative beef pastrami.

The family of New York's Sussman Volk claims Mr. Volk produced the first pastrami sandwich in the United States in 1887. Volk was a kosher butcher and New York immigrant from Lithuania. According to his descendant Patricia Volk, he prepared pastrami according to the recipe of a Romanian friend and served it on sandwiches out of his butcher shop. The sandwich was so popular that Volk converted the butcher shop into a restaurant to sell pastrami sandwiches.

Preparation and serving

Greek immigrants to Salt Lake City in the early 1960s introduced a cheeseburger topped with pastrami and a special sauce. The pastrami cheeseburger has since remained a staple of local burger chains in Utah.

References

References

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2. Saugera, Valérie. (2017). "Remade in France: Anglicisms in the Lexicon and Morphology of French". Oxford University Press.
3. "păstra".
4. ''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd Edition, 2005, ''s.v.'' 'pastrami'
5. "pastırma".
6. (1998). "The Taste of American Place: A Reader on Regional and Ethnic Foods". Rowman & Littlefield.
7. Benor, Sarah Bunin. (2020). "Chapter 1: Pastrami, Verklempt, and Tshootspa: Non-Jews' Use of Jewish Language in the United States". The American Jewish Year Book.
8. Popescu, Floriana. (2018-11-07). "A Paradigm of Comparative Lexicology". Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
9. Harry G. Levine, "Pastrami Land, a Deli in New York City", [https://web.archive.org/web/20090205064558/http://dragon.soc.qc.cuny.edu/Staff/levine/Pastrami-Land.pdf ''Contexts'', Summer 2007], p. 68
10. "Historical Fact – The Origins of Pastrami". Romania Tourism.
11. Moscow, Henry. (1995). "The Book of New York Firsts". Syracuse University Press.
12. Marks, Gil. (2010-11-17). "Encyclopedia of Jewish Food". Wiley.
13. Earl, Martin. (March 10, 2017). "How to Make Smoked Pastrami".
14. Sax, David. (2010-10-01). "Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen". Mariner Books.
15. (10 August 2022). "What's the Difference Between Pastrami and Montreal Smoked Meat?".
16. Edge, John T.. (2009-07-28). "Pastrami Meets Burger in Salt Lake City". The New York Times.