by Nick Zukin
12 ounces celery (10 to 12 stalks), very finely chopped
1 ounce fresh ginger (about 1 knob), peeled and very finely chopped or grated
2 cups granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
Pinch of kosher salt
48 ounces chilled seltzer or club soda
Place 1½ cups water, the celery, and ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the temperature to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a bowl, pressing down firmly on the solids to extract any remaining liquid.
Pour the liquid back into the saucepan set over medium-high heat and add the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the lemon zest and salt to the saucepan. Cover and decrease the heat to low. Simmer the syrup for 15 minutes, remove from the heat, and allow it to stand uncovered until it cools to room temperature. Strain the syrup into a small bowl.
In each tall glass, combine ½ cup of the syrup with 12 ounces (1½ cups) seltzer. If not making all the soda at once, the syrup may be kept in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Talking Deli with . . .
Nach Waxman
Anyone with an interest in food and the written word must make a pilgrimage to New York City’s Upper East Side. There, among a block of unremarkable storefronts, is Kitchen Arts & Letters, the best shop in the United States, if not the world, to find culinary literature spanning the globe and human history. Its proprietor is Nach Waxman, whose formidable knowledge of all things gastronomic includes the cuisine of his Jewish heritage.
Could you describe your upbringing and how that translated into what you grew up eating?
Nach Waxman: Though both my parents were from New York City (my mother from Rivington Street, Lower East Side; my father from Brooklyn), I grew up in a small town in rural southern New Jersey. Philadelphia and Wilmington were the closest cities; New York City was as remote as Moscow is from Minsk. Once a week, Iz Goldstein, the grocer, got in a supply of bagels, onion rolls, and lox from a source in Philly so the local yiddische (Jewish aristocracy) could fress (eat heartily) on Sunday mornings. What we drank was seltzer, ginger ale, and hot tea in a glass.
No cured meats were brought in, so my mother had to make her own corned beef, tongue, and—once or twice—pastrami, not to mention chopped liver and all the other specialties. I think Barney Woldar, the kosher butcher on the scene, made a few things like kishke and probably brought in kosher vurst—hot dogs and salami—from Philadelphia, and little else. But there was no place to go in and have a sandwich or a schmaltz-dappled chicken soup.
Did the foods you ate growing up affect your current dietary preferences?
Nach Waxman: Yes, markedly. Although I no longer keep kosher, my food is distinctly colored by the dishes I just mentioned, and many more. These foods are a source of comfort, pleasure, and well-being—as well as a source of being overweight and having high blood pressure. Happily, medical wisdom and gustatory enthusiasm have now reached a pretty sound balance.
What are your thoughts on the role of the Jewish deli traditionally and today?
Nach Waxman: With a very few exceptions, nearly all of what we call deli dishes were, in my parents’ day, made at home, not purchased. So, when my mother could get fresh herring, she would pickle it herself, slice up lots of onions, and mix it all up in sour cream. She didn’t buy the jarred stuff unless she had no other choice. I believe this was true of the homes in which my parents grew up. They didn’t get these foods from a deli; the deli got the foods from them and from their contemporaries.
I suspect that as time available for cooking shrank and as cooking skills deteriorated, the deli provided a way of getting approximations of many of these dishes. Some items were not practical to make at home and were always purchased. That is likely true of knishes, for example. My mother’s mother in New York could buy them from Yonah Schimmel or one of his competitors, but my mother could not in her small town in New Jersey. And she didn’t know how to make them because her mother had never learned how.
So, the deli has an important place in American Jewish history: It saved, at least for another generation or two, we hope longer, the foods that our people couldn’t (or were unwilling to) make for themselves. On the other hand, we see people in the store all the time who are trying to learn old processes in food making—Jewish baking, Jewish charcuterie, Jewish preserving, and so on for home and small businesses.
Do you have a favorite deli dish?
Nach Waxman: I suppose pastrami and chopped liver on rye, or maybe tongue and chopped liver. Good pastrami is getting hard to find.
Egg Cream
Serves 4
This iconic deli drink includes neither egg nor cream. Commonly credited to Louis Auster, a Jewish immigrant who ran a candy store and soda fountain on the Lower East Side prior to the turn of the twentieth century, the egg cream is a simple concoction of seltzer water, chocolate syrup, and milk. So, what’s the deal with the name? Gil Marks speculates that it comes from the foamy, egg white–like head that resulted when seltzer was squirted at high pressure from a soda siphon into a chocolate milk–filled glass. Alternative theories abound. Fox’s U-Bet is the standard brand of syrup for an egg cream, though real chocolate syrup (as opposed to chocolate-flavored), such as Dagoba, produces a better-tasting drink.
2 cups whole milk
48 ounces chilled seltzer or club soda
1 cup chocolate syrup
Pour ½ cup milk in the bottom of a tall soda glass (narrow at the bottom, wide on top), filling it less than one-third of the way. Add seltzer to the glass until the frothy mixture fills the glass to about an inch below the rim. Add ¼ cup of the chocolate syrup to the glass.
Angle a long spoon from one side of the glass’s rim to the opposite side of the glass’s bottom. Use a rapid up-and-down movement with the spoon while slowly rotating the bottom of the glass with your other hand to mix the chocolate into the milk without stirring, which will ruin the soda’s traditional layered appearance. Continue until the lumps of chocolate syrup in the bottom of the glass are fully incorporated and a 1- to 3-inch frothy white head crowns the rich chocolate brown soda below. Add enough additional seltzer to raise the head to the rim of the glass. Repeat for the remaining three sodas.
It’s best to consume egg cream without a straw so that the liquid below and the foamy top mix with every sip.
Spicy Ginger Ale
Serves 4
Salty, savory deli food calls for an assertive, refreshing beverage. This ginger ale fills the bill. Traditional ginger ales, such as Vernor’s, are light, sweet sodas. Ginger beers—Cock & Bull from Los Angeles or naturally fermented Bundaberg from Australia, for example—are less sweet and have a more intense ginger flavor. For ginger ale fanatics, one of the most beloved brands is Blenheim, a super-spicy version from South Carolina that is difficult to find outside the Deep South. This homemade variation packs all the punch of Blenheim and is perfect paired with pastrami, too.
12 ounces fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
2 cups granulated sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
1 habanero chile, stemmed and halved
Pinch of salt
48 ounces chilled seltzer or club soda
Place 2 cups water and the ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the temperature to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain into a bowl, pressing down firmly on the ginger to extract any liquid.
Pour the liquid back into the saucepan set over medium-high heat and add the sugar. Once the sugar is dissolved, add the lemon zest, chile, and salt to the saucepan. Cover and decrease the heat to low. Simmer the syrup for 15 minutes, remove from the heat, and allow it to stand uncovered until it cools to room temperature. Strain the syrup into a small bowl.
In each tall glass, combine ½ cup of the syrup with 12 ounces (1½ cups) seltzer. If not making all the soda at once, the syrup may be kept in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.
Sources and Resources
Where to Find What You Need to Know and Buy
Some ingredients are tough to find. We can point you in the right direction. Bookstores and the Internet are teeming with useful publications and information pertinent to Jewish deli food. For those who seek further enlightenment, we offer a sampling of these sources. And finally, for those times when you just don’t feel like doing it yourself and you want a meal at one of the great artisan Jewish delis in North America, we list each one, along with contact information.
Sources for Hard-to-Find Ingredients
Barley Malt Syrup
Vital for bagels, the best place to find barley malt syrup is at your local brewers’ supply store, where it is often available inexpensively in bulk. Dark or medium barley malt syrup is preferable to light. Natural foods stores and the natural foods section at major grocers are other places to find barley malt syrup, usually in glass jars sharing shelf space with other natural sweeteners.
Caramel Coloring
Essential to obtain that deep, dark cocoa color that distinguishes pumpernickel breads, caramel coloring is amazingly elusive for the home cook. Your best bet for obtaining liquid caramel coloring are local bakery supply or general restaurant food supply companies. Online sources include The Spice Place (for McCormick brand by the pint, see here). The most consumer-friendly source is the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Catalogue, though only powdered caramel is sold.
Cinnamon, Ceylon and Vietnamese
Most of what you find in the grocery store is Chinese cassia, which may be close to real cinnamon, but it is not the same nor of the same quality. Penzeys carries several cinnamon varieties that can be ordered from its online store (see here) if there is no bricks-and-mortar location in your community. Ceylon cinnamon is the most subtle and interesting of them all. Vietnamese has the purest, most powerful cinnamon flavor.
Charnushka (Nigella) Seeds
Caraway seeds will suffice, but for a superior rye bread, smoky-flavored charnushka seeds are a must. Also labeled under the abbreviated version of their scientific name, Nigella sativa, look for the seeds at any local spice retailer or online from Penzeys or The Spice House (see here).
Chocolate, Specialty
Of course, you can find the usual varieties of waxy chocolate chips at the grocery store, but to find extraordinary chocolate that will elevate the dishes in this book, dig a little deeper. Gourmet grocery stores and baking supply stores are a couple of places to find quality brands in bars, bags, and bulk. In some cities, there are stores dedicated solely to selling fine chocolate. And, of course, a search online can be fruitful too, especially once your Web browser is pointed to Chocosphere (see see here), a chocolate fancier’s dream come true.
Farmer (or Pot) Cheese
It has the flavor of a dry cottage cheese with the texture of a crumbly chèvre. Russian, Middle Eastern, or Scandinavian markets are your best source. It can also be purchased online at amazon.com or russianfooddirect.com.
Food-Grade Lye
Also known as sodium hydroxide, lye for use in making pretzels is most easily found online. Our resident pretzel expert suggests essentialdepot.com, though it can also be ordered from amazon.com.
Malt Powder
Also known as barley flour (but not to be confused with malted milk powder in a jar), this is simply the dried and powdered by-product of sprouted barley. Used for its mildly sweet natural flavor (and dough-enhancing properties in the case of diastatic malt), malt powder can be purchased at most baking supply stores, natural foods stores, and online from either King Arthur or Bob’s Red Mill, right.
Pink Salt
Sometimes called curing salt or Prague powder #1. It is a 6.25 percent mixture of sodium nitrite and table salt that helps prevent harmful bacteria from growing and fixes the appetizing reddish color in cured meats. Locally, it can often be purchased from independent butchers who still process meat themselves. Look for a butcher who makes sausages, salami, ham, or bacon. Pink salt can also be purchased online from amazon.com or americanspice.com.
Porcini Powder
The powder made from dried porcini mushrooms (sometimes referred to as cèpes or boletes) adds an intense and luxurious earthy flavor to dishes. It can be found in Italian or gourmet grocers or made by pulverizing dried porcinis in a spice grinder. Other sources include farmers’ market vendors and online from several Web sites, including oregonmushrooms.com, thespicehouse.com, and amazon.com.
Smoked Whitefish
Smoked Great Lakes whitefish can be found in Jewish appetizing stores (if you happen to have one near you), Russian markets, or select gourmet seafood markets. Russian markets also carry smoked chubs, which can be substituted for whitefish. Online, whitefish can be found at amazon.com or russianfooddirect.com.
Selected Internet Resources
Bob’s Red Mill
bobsredmill.com
Bob’s Red Mill produces and sells a vast array of grain products. The company is physically located in the Portland, Oregon, suburb of Milwaukie and has an enormous outlet store there. Select Bob’s Red Mill products are also stocked at major grocers and natural foods stores nationwide. Bob’s Web site offers convenient online shopping.
Chocosphere
chocosphere.com
This online-only source for chocolate may offer the broadest variety of quality brands anywhere. Though the Web site itself is chaotic, it does offer the chance to browse and shop for whatever top-notch chocolate may suit the moment or the recipe you need to make.
Diane Morgan Cooks
dianemorgancooks.com
Resource Web site and blog for the Portland, Oregon, cookbook author.
The Jewish Daily Forward
Hosting “The Jew & the Carrot” blog (blogs.forward.com/the-jew-and-the-carrot), a multi-contributor blog all about Jewish food and eating.
King Arthur Flour
kingarthurflour.com
Along with Bob’s Red Mill, King Arthur is the largest online retailer of goods for use by the home baker. As with Bob’s, King Arthur products are often found at major grocers and natural food stores, though the more exotic items, such as caramel coloring, are apt to be available only from the online catalog.
Mostly Foodstuffs
mostlyfoodstuffs.blogspot.com
Blog by Portland, Oregon, food writer (and NPR correspondent) Deena Prichep.
Penzeys Spices
penzeys.com
No doubt about it, Penzeys has the most impressive selection of spices and flavorings anywhere. Originally, the only brick-and-mortar stores were in Wisconsin, but now there are dozens of outlets around the country, all attractively designed, in addition to the easy-to-navigate online store.
Portland Food Group
portlandfood.org
Portland, Oregon, food and restaurant forum hosted by Nick under his online pseudonym, Extramsg.
Russian Food Direct
russianfooddirect.com
Though a live visit to a Russian market will always be more fun, there are several online sources for goods from Russia and nearby nations. Russian Food Direct has a larger selection and is easier to order from than most, plus the site lets you search specifically for kosher foods.
The Shiksa in the Kitchen
theshiksa.com
Blog by Torey Avey, culinary anthropologist and convert to Judaism, who writes about the history of Jewish food and related topics.
The Spice House
spicehouse.com
A good online alternative to Penzeys, run by a different branch of the Penzey family, The Spice House offers a selection of dried herbs and spices that is in
the same league if not as well known as the familial competition.
Our Favorite Artisan Jewish Delicatessens
Caplansky’s Delicatessen
356 College Street
Toronto, Ontario M5T 3A9
416-500-3852
caplanskys.com
Kenny & Zuke’s Delicatessen
1038 S.W. Stark Street
Portland, Oregon 97205
503-222-3354
kennyandzukes.com
Mile End Delicatessen
97a Hoyt Street
Brooklyn, New York 11217
718-852-7510
mileendbrooklyn.com
Stopsky’s Delicatessen
3016 78th Avenue SE
Mercer Island, Washington 98040
206-236-4564
stopskysdelicatessen.com
Wise Sons Delicatessen
3150 24th Street
San Francisco, California 94110
415-787-3354
wisesonsdeli.com
Two other artisan-style Jewish delicatessens that we know of opened after this book was written but before it went to press:
Josh’s Delicatessen & Appetizing
9517 Harding Avenue
Surfside, Florida 33154
305-397-8494
joshsdeli.com
DGS Delicatessen
1317 Connecticut Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-293-4400
dgsdelicatessen.com
Russian Markets: Stalking the Secret Source for Elusive Deli Ingredients
Russians began coming to the New World even before there was a United States. Historically, they came to hunt, fish, trap, prospect, and trade. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russians and citizens of surrounding nations that became part of the Soviet Union came to escape Communism and seek out opportunity. After the fall of the USSR, still more came, seeking work and a piece of the American Dream.
