Smoked meat
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Smoked meat is a Jewish method of preparing cured meats which originated among the Jews of Central Europe; and is often associated with Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It can be served on a plate or as a smoked meat sandwich. Smoked meat is similar to New York-style pastrami and corned beef.
Contents |
[edit] General
Smoked meat originated among Ashkenazi Jewish communities in Europe, and is often associated with other foods popularized by Jewish communities, such as bagels. In North America, outside of Montreal, "smoked meat" (in general, not Montreal-style) is referred to as pastrami which is derived from the Yiddish: פא סטראמע (pronounced pastrómeh). Both the dish and the word were brought to North America with the wave of Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century; it is similar to roast brisket, a signature dish of the local Jewish cuisine of these regions. Smoked meat, also known as salt beef in London, is cured, spiced, and flavoured in ways similar to corned beef. Difference in meat cut and spicing mean that smoked meat's taste is different from either of these, and even varies among recipes.
[edit] Montreal
Along with bagels, smoked meat has been popular in Montreal since the nineteenth century, and has taken such strong root in that city that many Montrealers, and even many non-Montrealers, identify it as emblematic of the city's cuisine. Current and former residents and tourists make a point of visiting Montreal's best-known smoked meat establishments (Schwartz's, Dunn's, the Main Deli, Lester's, and the Snowdon Deli), even taking whole briskets away as take-out. Despite the food's origins in, and association with, Montreal's Jewish community, and contrary to what is sometimes asserted, these delis are not certified as kosher.[1]
Beyond the delis listed here, smoked meat, (French: "sandwich à la viande fumée" or "smoked-meat"[1]), is offered in many Montreal diners and fast food chains. Smoked meat has become popularized beyond its Jewish origins into the ethnic French-Canadian population of Quebec, where smoked meat has been integrated into popular French-Canadian foods, such as, for example, "smoked meat poutine."
Smoked meat can similarly be found across Canada, although proponents of Montreal's smoked meat claim that it cannot be obtained in its tastiest, or most authentic form, outside of Montreal. Given that a subtantial proportion of Montreal's Ashkenazi Jewish community, in which Montreal's smoked meat has its origins, has left Montreal for other Canadian cities, the premise that Canada's other cities lack the cultural background to create good smoked meat appears dubious. Several restaurateurs have, however, offered to franchise Schwartz's in cities across North America. Its owners, however, have always refused; but do deliver by mail-order.
[edit] Luxembourg
Among the most typical dishes in Luxembourg's traditional cuisine is Judd mat Gaardbounen, which is smoked neck of pork with broadbeans. Although this dish is not generally referred to as "smoked meat", it is notable that the word which refers to the smoked neck of pork, Judd, is also the Luxembourgish word for "Jew" -- underlying the association of that form of curing meat with the Jewish community. It is ironic that the actual food cured in this manner is pork that is not kosher.
