Can you identify these
Jewish deli staples?KNOW YOUR
1 Knish _______
2 Kugel _______
3 Gefilte fish _______
4 Kreplach _______
5 Blintz _______corned beef. In San Francisco,
Wise Sons Jewish Delicatessen
dishes out its own take on
the Reuben, replacing the
sauerkraut with a layer of
kimchi, inspired by co-owner
Evan Bloom’s wife, Jessica,
who is Korean-American.
And at Call Your Mother in
Washington, DC, sesame bagels
and cream cheese are sold alongside
za’atar-sprinkled bagels and a
candied-salmon schmear.
These unexpected, often vegan or
vegetarian spins on classic Jewish
comfort food have attracted a new
generation of fans, and you’ll often
find these folks noshing alongside
grandparents who love an early-bird
special. “Most of our customers are
just looking for a good Jewish deli,”
says Andrew Kalish of Sam & Gertie’s
Vegan Jewish Deli in Chicago. “They’re
not necessarily vegan, and they don’t
notice or mind the fact that we are
100 percent plant-based.”
This is a far cry from the 1880s,
when the Jewish deli got its start in
America. During that time, German
immigrants, many of whom were
Jewish, began arriving on New York
City’s shores, bringing their love of
sausage and sauerkraut with them.
Before long, aspiring shopkeepers
began operating pushcarts and
opening small butcher shops in
Manhattan stocked with these
nostalgic dishes.
A generation later, at the turn of
the 20th century, a wave of Eastern
European Jewish immigrants arrived,
largely settling on the crowded
Lower East Side. Romanian Jews
introduced pastrami-making
techniques that would transform delis
from glorified takeout counters into
the sacred temples of meat and bread
they are today. Around the same
time, appetizing shops (stores that
specialize in smoked and cured fish—
such as lox—cream cheese and other
foods that belong on a bagel) sprang
up across New York City. Kosherfood laws prohibit mixing milk and
meat, so the deli provided all things
related to cured and pickled meats,
while the appetizing counter supplied
fish and cheese. Today, many Jewish
restaurants blend elements of the
two stores under one roof.
“Delis provided a sense of
community for newcomers to a
strange land and combined far-flung
food traditions from the Jewish
diaspora into something uniquely
American,” says Jennifer Johnson,
who co-owns the upscale Jewish deli
The General Muir in Atlanta.
By the early 1930s, New York City
was home to more than 1,500 kosher
delicatessens where you could get
pastrami, corned beef and brisket
sandwiches, as well as other Eastern
European Jewish classics: steaming
bowls of matzo ball soup, hefty
potato knishes, creamy chopped liver
and mouth-puckering pickles.
Some of the most iconic of these
restaurants—like Katz’s and
2nd Avenue Deli in New York City,
or Langer’s and Canter’s in
Los Angeles—still draw impressiveANSWERS: 1. C; 2. D; 3. E; 4. A; 5. Bon the road
DELIS PROVIDED
A SENSE OF
COMMUNITY
FOR NEWCOMERS
TO A STRANGE
LAND.
A
C
B
D
E
Frankel’s in
Brooklyn serves
this unkosher
pastrami, egg
and cheese.174 FOOD NETWORK MAGAZINE ●DECEMBER 2020
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