Stepping inside a New York Jewish deli is a spiritual experience. All of my hopes and dreams are served right in front of my eyes, in the form of crispy potato pancakes wrapped in deli paper, a mountainous slice of noodle kugel, and thin, juicy shavings of pastrami on rye bread. But any good Jewish deli will have you answer one major question: pastrami or corned beef? Before you place your next order, learn the true difference between corned beef and pastrami, according to someone who has perfected the art of both: Jake Dell of New York’s Katz’s Delicatessen.
Cut of Meat
“Traditionally, pastrami is a navel cut and corned beef is made with brisket,” explains Dell. Each cut contains different amounts of fat, which translates into how the beef breaks down during the cooking process. The navel contains fat in the middle, whereas the beef brisket has fat mostly along the exterior of the meat. “The fat on the inside means that when you smoke pastrami, it distributes throughout the entire cut of meat,” says Dell.
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