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Winner of the 2015 National Jewish Book Award in Education and Jewish Identity from the Jewish Book Council The history of an iconic food in Jewish American cultureFor much of the twentieth century, the New York Jewish deli was an iconic institution in both Jewish and American life. As a social space it rivaled�and in some ways surpassed�the synagogue as the primary gathering place for the Jewish community. In popular culture it has been the setting for classics like When Harry Met Sally. And today, after a long period languishing in the trenches of the hopelessly old-fashioned, it is experiencing a nostalgic resurgence. Pastrami on Rye is the first full-length history of the New York Jewish deli. The deli, argues Ted Merwin, reached its full flowering not in the immigrant period, as some might assume, but in the interwar era, when the children of Jewish immigrants celebrated the first flush of their success in America by downing sandwiches and cheesecake in theater district delis. But it was the kosher deli that followed Jews as they settled in the outer boroughs of the city, and that became the most tangible symbol of their continuing desire to maintain a connection to their heritage. Ultimately, upwardly mobile American Jews discarded the deli as they transitioned from outsider to insider status in the middle of the century. Now contemporary Jews are returning the deli to cult status as they seek to reclaim their cultural identities. Richly researched and compellingly told, Pastrami on Rye gives us the surprising story of a quintessential New York institution.… (more)
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Mr.
Deli hasn't always meant the same thing and the book follows the delicatessen from neighborhood purveyors of Eastern European kosher food to poor immigrants that became neighborhood meeting places that evolved into non-Kosher celebrity hangouts before dying off. Mr. Merwin's heavily footnoted history book ends with the deli's decline into today's kitschy tourist destination. As an afterthought he then takes a very quick look at restaurants and food shops across the country that are trying to walk back toward an authentic deli experience tuned to the 21st century. (Hence "Deli Man.")
The book is informative and enjoyable. It focuses on US deli shops, and not so much on the food itself or the nuances of Jewish food law. For that you want a companion cookbook and a dictionary.
"Pastrami on Rye" has been edited down to only 256 pages. I would like to see the 2-3 other chapters that have been sliced out.
I received a review copy of "Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish Deli" by Ted Merwin (NYU Press) through NetGalley.com.
But in the third generation, delis were beaten back by the forces of Jewish assimilation and over-righteous healthful eating, only to become glitzy tourist attractions like Katz's and the Second Avenue Deli (two remaining locations, neither on Second Avenue).
This enjoyable traipse through the big heavy glass doors and the menus as big as billboards also includes a brief trip to the appetizing store. Now THAT would be a book!