In A Pickle: David Sax Crusades To Save The Deli

By: Ben Kessler, posted Oct 19, 2009 at 12:00 pm

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Save The Deli - David Sax

We’re giving away a copy of David Sax’s book Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen. Read the post to learn how to win!

David Sax is our kind of guy. The Canadian born Jewish freelance writer spent the past year or so traveling the globe to nosh at over 140 delicatessens. Raised on traditional foods like matzah ball soup, blintzes, corned beef, and tongue, Sax knows when he’s found the perfect bite. Through the years though, he has experienced a horrible revelation: the Jewish delicatessen as we know it is soon to become extinct.

Thus David Sax set out on his aforementioned journey, keeping a journal along the way, which developed into a book, Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen. From a stint slicing pastrami behind the corner at Katz’s in New York’s Lower East Side to a tour of a plant that pumps out thousands of corned beefs a day in the Midwest, the author takes us through the clogged arteries of Jewish food lore. Both a history lesson and a drool worthy recount of all the food he encounters along the way, Save the Deli is a fun and informative read, a state of the union of sorts for corned beef and pastrami.

David Sax will appear tonight in New York at Ben’s Kosher Deli at 7:30pm and on November 3rd at the Philadelphia Free Library. You can also read more at the Save the Deli blog.

To win a free copy of Save the Deli, answer in the comments: corned beef, or pastrami? We’ll close submissions on Wednesday October 21, at midnight EST and pick a winner at random.

You might like these related posts:

  1. The Kibitz Room: Passionate About Pastrami & Pickles
  2. Harold’s New York Deli: The Greatest Delicatessen On Earth
  3. Last Chance To Win A Signed Copy of Colicchio’s ‘wichcraft Cookbook!
  4. Ungashtupt: The Far Rockaway at Famous 4th Street Deli
  5. More Meat, Less Bread at Koch’s Deli




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  • scrambles
    Pastrami! Preferably pastrami on rye with sauerkraut from Langer's Deli in Los Angeles.
  • Liz
    Corned beef! I'm definitely going to the event tonight. Should be awesome.
  • bubila
    Pastrami! Katz's or Langer's. It's a tossup.
  • Pastrami, hands down.

    My one time eating at Katz's was made even sweeter by a strange ending: on the way out, we handed over our tickets (4 people). Each of us had a pastrami on rye, plus some drinks. They charged us $4.50 total. We paid, and ran out the door as fast as we could. Not sure if they were having a rollback night (this was 2005), but it sure was awesome.

    Oh, & 4th Street Deli in Philly pastrami is excellent, too.
  • kmoore42
    Katz's pastrami with an egg cream.
  • shakeymike
    Corned Beef -- Reubens forever!
  • Pastrami!!! In the Philly area, I love the Murray's special (Narberth & Berwyn)
  • Pastrami!
  • jkanthor
    Corned Beef (special is my favorite!)
  • Pastrami. Reuben is my favorite deli sandwich, happily discovered when I moved here from France.
  • doktoramor
    I think the corned beef sandwich takes the crown.
  • elmom
    corned beef rules! been to Katz's, like Economy Candy more...
  • ronzorelli
    Pastrami!!!
  • gregparadee
    Corned Beef!
  • chefcorbin
    Hot Pastrami on Tartine Bakery (San Fran)Sourdough with Johnson County, KS Creamy Garlic Slaw, Comte and homemade sliced Dill Pickles
  • Pastrami!!
  • Gotta go with corned beef, especially Koch's
  • literally
    Corned beef, no doubt.
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