Berkeley, Calif. — If you’re trying to defend the Jewish deli to a roomful of locavores and food activists, it’s good to have Michael Pollan on your side.
The Berkeley, Calif.-based author of the 2006 book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” — often referred to as the bible of the sustainable food movement — was on hand February 9 for a panel discussion at the city’s Jewish community center that was billed as a referendum on the future of the Jewish deli.
At issue was whether the famously fatty, gloriously schmaltz-laden cuisine of the Ashkenazic bubbe can mind-meld with the rarefied sensibilities of the Bay Area foodie. More specifically, can a Jewish deli worthy of the name commit to seasonal menus, regional produce and locally sourced meats without sending customers screaming for the door?
Sure, the panelists declared. But they’d had their minds made up before the evening started: This wasn’t so much a referendum as a putsch.
Leading the charge were Karen Adelman and Peter Levitt, co-owners of Saul’s Deli, a kosher-style Jewish deli down the block from Chez Panisse, über-chef Alice Water’s famed eatery, the birthplace of California cuisine, and the place where Levitt got his training.
Adelman and Levitt’s position is clear: What American Jews think of as the authentic Jewish deli is an ossified construct based on post-World War II ideals of abundance that had little to do with how Jews ate in early 20th-century New York, let alone in the Old World.
That mile-high, fatty pastrami sandwich served at Katz’s or the Carnegie Deli? American, not Jewish, they say. Jewish cooking a century ago was all about thrift, seasonality and resourcefulness. Every part of the animal was used; portions were small; tomatoes were served in summer, and beets in winter.
Today’s customers want everything on the menu year-round; if they don’t get it, Levitt said, “they complain it isn’t a ‘real’ Jewish deli.”
“‘Authentic’ is a moving target,” Adelman added, pointing out how Jewish cuisine in this country has developed with each new immigration wave. “What we’re arguing is, we’re more authentic. What’s authentic about mass-produced food and giant menus?”
On the other hand, she said, food memories are a huge part of culture and identity. Deli food is Jewish comfort food. When Adelman announced plans for this evening’s panel, her mother sent her a worried email, begging her not to mess with tradition.
Walking in the front door of Saul’s Deli, one wouldn’t think they’re messing with tradition. There is pastrami and corned beef, smoked fish in the display case, celery soda on the menu and a dish of pickles on every table.
But the meat is local and grass-fed. The fish comes only from sustainable farms.The half-sour pickles are made locally from cucumber farmers Levitt chose personally. And, most heretical of all, the celery soda is homemade.
A Jewish deli that doesn’t serve Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray? Customers grumbled two years ago when Saul’s made the switch, but Levitt and Adelman stuck to their guns. Jewish delis always used to make their own soda, they pointed out, along with pastrami, salami and kishkes. Today, most delis buy those items boxed, bottled or frozen. So who’s more authentic?
“There was a time when Dr. Brown’s had the best soda in New York,” Levitt said. “It was the city’s de facto Jewish deli drink. Now the company is owned by Pepsi-Cola, and ConAgra Foods owns Hebrew National. The names we know are owned by industrial manufacturers.”
Integrating sustainable food values into the Jewish deli menu may fly in Berkeley, where folks are willing to pay for food they feel good about politically. But there’s a trade-off.
“Meat was produced differently 50 years ago, and to get back to that way of doing things costs a lot of money,” Pollan told the crowd.
That’s true, Levitt admitted: Industrial-grade beef costs about $2 a pound, while he pays $6 a pound for his grass-fed beef. Given that most delis operate so close to the margin anyway, how likely is it that other Jewish delis will embrace such sustainable practices on a national scale?
Not very, experts agree. Not until more customers demand it.
“There’s no reason why a Jewish deli can’t be sustainable,” argues David Sax, author of the 2009 book “Save the Deli.”
Still, most deli owners are tied to the old model, even though that model doesn’t seem to be working. Jewish delis are going out of business nationwide: New York City, which boasted about 5,000 Jewish delis in the early 1950s, now has a mere two dozen, according to Sax.
He counts the number of new Jewish delis committed to sustainability on one hand: Kenny & Zuke’s in Portland, Ore., Kaplansky’s in Toronto and Mile End in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill neighborhood, which opened January 25.
It’s no coincidence that the owners of all three are in their 20s and early 30s. The debate turns largely on generational lines. “There’s growing awareness among younger deli owners that this is important to a new generation of deli customers,” he says.
Chef and cookbook author Joan Nathan believes that sustainability is not a fad among American consumers. “It’s here to stay,” she said. “We’re much more cognizant of what we’re eating and where it comes from.”
As the public becomes more educated, restaurants will have to adapt if they want to survive. That’s hard for delis, because of the nostalgia factor. “The question is, are delis part of that future?” she asked. “I don’t know.”
Back at the Berkeley JCC, 80-year-old Max Cooperstein stayed in his seat for a few minutes after the discussion, reflecting. He grew up in Philadelphia and spent plenty of time at Jewish delis. The evening brought it all back.
“I grew up on chicken necks, kishke, all the stuff that clogs your arteries,” he reminisced, pushing his cap back on his head and smiling at the memory. “And I was a victim of it — I’m a cardiac patient. Now I eat lunch at the salad bar at Whole Foods.”
“Life is about change,” chimed in Bonnie, his wife and deli-eating partner of 56 years. “If we don’t change, we don’t grow.”
Contact Sue Fishkoff at feedback@forward.com
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The Last real Jewish deli's have disappeared in my hometown of Wilkes-Barre, Pa Pensak's a downtown Bastion of Comfort food has closed. And before that GreenBurg's. The wrecking Ball has taken a big swing at Tradition.
you don't have to eat Jewish deli food every day.. Once a week wouldn't hurt! Jewish Soul Food!
the last two Jewish Delis in Newark, NJ are: Hobbies and Bragman's. Honor them by going for a pastrami sandwich with chopped liver.
http://www.newjerseylife.com/dining/delis-to-die-for/
http://www.wildriverreview.com/wildtable/?p=1266
Thank God I grew up in Worcester MA - in a heavily Jewish area. However, we had to cross town to go to Water Street, Deli heaven - because these places were an institution by the time of the West Side migration and none were established with the right "mix." There are no challengers to the Whitman's cottage cheese (now available at Tom's International), Widoff's cissel, Weintraub's meats, the Broadway matzah brie, and on and on. Widoff's still makes the best seeded wry outside New York City. We have often taken orders for other Boston-based, NYC natives who miss the real thing. The tastes for these things are established in us so early, we don't even notice. I hope this comment goes directly to God's ears. How much longer will these authentic, genuine places stay alive? It's really up to us.
“Can a Jewish deli worthy of the name commit to seasonal menus, regional produce and locally sourced meats without sending customers screaming for the door?” Absolutely. Adelman and Levitt’s commitment to sustainability and their innovativeness is laudable. Deli menus were never etched in stone and while often similar varied from neighborhood to neighborhood and from city to city. I must take issue, however, with Adelman’s claim that they are more authentic. If there was one thing that defined Jewish cuisine a century ago in the US or the old world, regardless of menu, it was that the food and the restaurant/deli were kosher. Kosher-style is the ultimate Americanization. Why get hung up on semantics or authenticity. Let’s just eat!
years ago there were many Jewish stly delis in miami, florida but today as the population changed its easier to get a taco than a pastrami sandwich, and soon impossible.
> Still, most deli owners are tied to the old model, even though that > model doesn’t seem to be working. Jewish delis are going out of > business nationwide: New York City, which boasted about 5,000 Jewish > delis in the early 1950s, now has a mere two dozen, according to Sax. I'd argue that the reason deli's are going out of business has less to do with old/new models than the availability of the same foods in the supermarket at reasonable prices.
For example, where would one go for that "mile-high, fatty pastrami sandwich" in the 50s, except the deli? Nowadays, I can pick up kosher pastrami, decent pickles, mustard and rye bread from my local market and make this classic the way I like it at home.
Maybe in Berkeley that 'concept' might work but even there, I doubt it.
In striving for more "authenticity," it seems that they're actually going against the essence of the deli - by pricing themselves out of range for most people. Sustainable food is all well and good, but it's pretty clear by now that it's only accessible to the well-heeled. Which is not the people who were eating at delis back in the good ol' "authentic" days - most Jews were too poor by far.
And I couldn't help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the pickle situation. Sounds like someone missed the point of pickling, which is to preserve produce so it can be eaten all year round. Perhaps a wee history lesson is in order to help beef up all that "authenticity".
I grew up with Joan in Worcester and Weintraub's Delicatessen was the best. "You want it lean? Which way do you want it to lean, left or right?" And their half sour pickles were real half sour pickles. Half sours today rarely taste like their's used to. Meat you can buy in many grocery store delis but the bread makes all the difference. Even the sandwiches I got at the Carnegie Deli fell apart. Granted there is a ton of meat in between those slices but its hard to fine real rye bread now that holds a sandwich together and has the true taste of good rye bread. Everything is cheaper now in price and quality and unfortunately we call that progress. As Tevye said, "Tradition? Eh?!"
I too grew up in Worcester. Bob Weintraub had been best man at my parents wedding. So the deli had a little different meaning. I watched Bob Weintraub work at the deli, than he and his wife would visit my parents, you could see a different personality. I now live in Northeast New Jersey, just over the George Washington Bridge from New York City. A large population of Jewish people live in this area, take your pick of Kosher or Jewish style deli's.
You can keep your white fish,corned beef,kishka,Brown's Celery Tonic. Give me Posin's Rye Bread and Danishes,(plural for Danish). When the Posin family shut down their deli/bakery on Georgia Avenue, inWashington,D.C.,real rye,pump,onion rolls,miniture Danishes and year-round Hamentashen disappeared and ,Jewish Washington became a waste land for WHITE BREAD,brownies, and cup cakes.
Oh Mr Posin, come back. come back to the Jewish Nation's Capitol. I haven't had a brunch in the 30 years since you left us.
I will only eat KOSHER. This is what Hashem tells Jews to eat.
Where can one get a GOOD kosher deli sandwich in NJ, NYC or even the Phila, PA area. Something like Roll Beef, Pastrami, Corened Beef or even Roast Beef or Turkey.
Kosher---style???? An insult. Something is either Kosher, or it is trayfe. SHAME ON ANYONE who even uses the words "Kosher Style." TRAYFE is the right term. It may as well be shrimp salad, ham or roast pork.
WHERE can I go for a good Kosher deli sandwich----and I do not mean salami or bologna---which is easy to find.
Any recommendations? I heard that Scranton, PA might have a real kosher deli...
A non Jewish person once asked me what Jewish food tastes like...I answered that if the food were from the Middle East their foods would be different..but if the food were of European background then I could answer...I said that it's very tasty ....sometimes good ...sometimes great...but if you had indigestion several hours after eating it then it was FANTASTIC....give me a good piece of Kishka and watch me smile!!
I don't see how a deli can operate and keep Kosher anymore. The prices they want are obscene for the orders. As a child in NY, I used to go to a deli that made salami, pastrami, and roastbeef on rye with russian dressing and cole slaw. I could just imagine what the deli's would charge now. When Rubashkin was selling meat, they had a 3 pack of this, so I bought my own and made my sandwich for far less. We have some types of deli in CT, they want obscene prices for sandwiches and cakes.
Also in NY, the pickles on Delancy st from the pickleman was great. Giant ones you could hold in two hands; and a dollar each. Spicy as any, and in those great wooden vats. Unfortunately those traditions and reasonable prices have died out.
I wonder if the delis mentioned in this article keep to Halacha and stay closed on Shabat. The ones where I lived stopped and ended up going out of business.
I used to go to Kutchers a lot with my family. They had the best food that could rival any restaurant of yester-year and today. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner; and the performers who came there Jew, and Christian alike constantly marveled at how good the food was.
For really good Kosher (not kosher style) deli, try the LIDO deli in long beach, NY ...really good pastrami...
Best Deli Mendy's Flatbush Brooklyn. Ave I and Coney Island Ave.
I grew up in Brooklyn Ny. I love corned beef, I love pastrami and a good Jewish salami sings of poetry. Bagels .mmmmmmmmmm. Freshly sliced lox. Real pickles and sour tomatoes. Real rye. Those mom and pop places are all but gone, too bad. Katz's deli(home of the greasy paw) where if you don't tip, in spite of the signs, your sandwich will be of the goyische size. I now live in the northwest and I make my own corned beef, smoke my own pastrami and suffer the bagels and forget about a good Jewish or Italian bakery. No I don't eat it a lot, but when I do ,I'm transported to the land of the knish (pronounce the K putz, it ain't knife) . Does a sustainable deli appeal to me? Yes. I want to eat Jewish soul food with my family and friends. I like seasonal items because I look forwards to them. Nothing is as it was and will never be again. but that doesn't stop my delicious memories. Good night Mrs. Shatz wherever you are!
The only way to avoid the obvious elitism associated with this kind of movement is for Saul's and other delis to offer a variety of meat products. Let the wealthy buy their $6-a-pound pastrami - however often they wish - but don't prohibit someone who can't afford that kind of luxury to not satisfy their pastrami craving. Offer the $2 pastrami, too, and let the consumer decide. Seems to me that a deli is in business to make money, not an environmental statement and that offering this kind of range is the only way to do it. I do look forward to trying Saul's super Cel-Ray substitute one of these days. Good article, Sue; I only wish I had been along to help with the research.
There is a difference between being traditionally/customarily and being authentically Jewish. A Deli-style pastrami sandwich may have become customary Jewish food in the US, but if it is not Kosher it is NOT authentic Jewish food. (Kosher-style is even worse than non-kosher, since sometimes people don't realize that kosher-style places aren't at all kosher)
On the other hand, kosher sushi is 100% authentic Jewish food, even if it is 0% traditional.