Customer Reviews

Save the Deli: In Search of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, and the Heart of Jewish Delicatessen

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

New Yorkers are going to hate this book. Not only does it name the two best cities for deli as Los Angeles (all true New Yorkers can't stand LA, especially transplants who have to live or work there) and Montréal (CANADA? Huh??), it was written by a guy from Toronto. How can NYC not be the undisputed Deli Capital of the World? And what does a Canadian know from deli, anyway?

The answer is this: David Sax is on a mission. It's right there--it's the title of the book! Sax has traveled the world in search of the best of Jewish delicatessen culture and food. Believe me, Sax knows just about all there is to know about the deli classics everybody is familiar with, like pastrami, bagels, and knishes, as well as about hardcore Jewish soul food, such as p'tcha, kishke, and cholent. He's eaten more deli than you can possibly imagine. He knows what he's talking about.

Sax keeps the tone light and entertaining for the most part, even though Save the Deli serves up generous helpings of history, food criticism, and travel writing. The only (minor) flaw in the text is that Sax hasn't woven the chapters into a flowing and coherent whole very well. Some sections end abruptly, while others feel somewhat disconnected from the material that follows. This may stem from his background as a magazine writer. Nonetheless, the book is enjoyable and fun to read overall.

Bottom line: Save the Deli is a combination travelogue, tribute, and polemic. While Sax's aim is serious, he leavens his writing with a great deal of humor and sensitivity. Anybody who loves corned beef on rye with lots of mustard, always stops for fresh rugelach, or is just a dedicated fresser will dig this book. Maybe New Yorkers will too, when all is said and done. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 for daring to buck the conventional wisdom about NYC delis.

[a personal note: for those who think Canada can't possibly have good deli, I have four words for you. Smoked meat. Montréal bagels. `Nuff said.]

------
Two books in a similar vein to this one:
Eat This!: 1,001 Things to Eat Before You Diet-eat your way across the United States
The Man Who Ate Everything-pompous and pretentious, yet utterly compelling

David Sax has produced a book that induced hunger pangs every time I sat down to read a chapter. His primary mission is to identify the surviving (and hopefully thriving) Jewish deli today, both in the epicenter of the Deli Universe - New York - but also in select cities around the US, and even some in Europe. However, Sax also sets the historical context, describing the rise of Deli culture to the peek of the golden age in the 40s and 50s and then the inevitable decline. Alternately, Sax is mourning the disappearance of the Jewish deli and celebrating islands of thriving deli culture that he finds in both expected (Los Angeles) and unexpected (Boulder) cities. There is much description of the different pickling processes to produce pastrami and corned beef, comparisons of matzoh ball soup, and the Pavlovian descriptions of the less well-known, but more arterial clogging speck (pickled brisket fat), kishke (schmaltz-stuffed intestine) and grine (chicken skin cracklings). To help out, Sax includes both a glossary, and a listing of all the delis he visited. Although there is much to mourn in the passing of so many delis, there is reason to snap on your bib and head out to find the still-surviving and newly inaugurated delis that are true to the time-tested techniques of food preparation that produce sandwiches to die for.

David Sax has a passion for deli, and he's willing to travel the world, literally, to find it. No dish is too exotic, which reminds me of Anthony Bourdain, but while Bourdain explores all culinary bases, David Sax sticks to the rib-sticking food of his youth. He gives a good picture of all the people he meets, and their quirks, but his descriptions of the food will really make you drool. Better have a can of Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray soda on hand while you read this!

There is plenty of humor, but a darker side, too, as he considers an exhibit of cooking pots at Birkenau, a [...] extermination camp, and reflects on how Jewish cooking was decimated by the Holocaust. He explores Poland, where some people, Jews and non-Jews alike, are attempting to reanimate the cuisine.

He finds plenty of people as devoted to deli as he is, people who prepare it, serve it, eat it and talk about it with gusto. He explores the history of the foods, the preparation and the short-cuts (such as instant corned beef, at which he practically sneers).

There are some charming photographs of delicatessens and the people who maintain them, but I would really have liked some recipes. Although there is a list of delicatessens, and a glossary for people who don't know what all these dishes are, it would have been absolutely terrific to have some basic recipes for the home cook to try.

If you've never tried delicatessen, try reading this book. It may well give you an appetite!

I'm a secular Jew raised in Los Angeles, home of a huge Jewish population. As I get older - yet not more devout - I feel more Jewish, probably because I live smack dab in the middle of the Bible Belt. I also live with a foodie who has a tremendous fondness for deli, yet, because I'm not much of a meat eater, I've never even eaten a pastrami or corned beef sandwich. All of those things add up to a person surprisingly interested in a book devoted to Jewish delis.

The book begins with an anecdote about author David Sax's grandfather, who, upon being released from the hospital after a bout of angina, stopped off at his favorite deli on the way home, ate a sandwich piled high with fatty meat, then dropped dead. Perhaps it is only a Jew who could write such a story with fond humor, and perhaps it is only another Jew who could laugh when reading it, but for me, the author's tremendous verve and humor served him well throughout SAVE THE DELI, a book that traces not only the Jewish Deli - in the U.S., Canada, and Europe - but also provides context in the way of Jewish history.

Most of his food-related stories, descriptions, and metaphors charmed me, but very occasionally they fell flat, particularly when he waxed poetic. I totally get the joys of sinking your teeth into a slice of double-baked rye bread, with its chewiness and airy density...what I don't get is how cured meat smells like a fine fragrance on a beautiful woman.

Luckily those awkward moments are few and far between, and throughout most of the book, devoted to a world tour of deli, Sax delivers a foodie high of cured meats, baked goods, and a liberal does of schmaltz - as in the rendered fat of poultry that is, as the author writes in his inimitable fashion, an "aphrodesiac to Jewish men." The author's fondness of the larger-than-life personalities of Deli Men (and occasional women) is irresistible, and even readers like me who grew up around deli but were never particularly affected by it, will feel his sorrow about its slow demise. It's not just the story of Jews, but the story of small business owners throughout the last thirty years. And his bittersweet visit to Poland brings it all together with what might have been had not an entire religion been nearly systematically wiped off the face of Europe.

SAVE THE DELI serves as a restaurant guide to travelers, and as an historical text of urban life - focusing on white flight, food costs and the price of real estate - as well as changes in diet and the franchisement of food in the U.S. Some of the information Sax imparts is new, some is not, but it is the context he provides to all of it that, along with descriptions of the back-breaking work and huge forces of personality involved in successful delis, that makes the book worth reading.

Sax hits certain themes over and over again, and though he tends to repeat himself, it's not an onerous problem. What's particularly fun is seeing how many of the delis mentioned - or dishes described - the reader's eaten. And for the Texans among us (my husband included), heretofore hidden joys of smoked meat in Montreal, kind of a mix between Texas BBQ and traditional deli - beckon loudly.

As for readers like my husband, who can recall in equal reverence toasted rye bread topped with onions cooked in schmaltz and his favorite fine dining dishes (and kitchen inventions)...well, he's getting the book next. I imagine a pastrami sandwich is somewhere in my future.

Enjoyable, well written, and informative

David Sax mixes history, sociology, economics, and most of all humor, to produce a near definitive snapshot of the state of deli today. Like a great sandwich, the ingredients complement each other to produce a delicious creation. The book is organized as a travelogue, starting in New York, then following Sax's meanderings around the United States. He ends with a look at deli in other countries.

His coverage of Canadian delis is excellent, reflecting his north-of-the-border origins. His coverage of some of the most important east coast delis is surprisingly poor. He acknowledges this in the book when he briefly mentions his lack of time to visit the delis of Baltimore and Philadelphia. He should have taken more time to visit and research these remaining east coast cities. The coverage of delis in Middle America was fascinating, but this made the neglect of key east coast cities even more irritating, hence the "near definitive" comment above.

Do you have to be Jewish to like this book? No, but it helps (sorry for the cliché). There is ample background material and a glossary for the Yiddishly challenged.

Warning, reading this book will inspire you to seek out the fattiest pastrami you can find, and it may motivate you to take your own deli road trip. I know I'll be taking the book with me when I travel to the cities Sax visited. Hopefully, the delis he fell in love with will still be there.

If you are a fan of real New York style delis you will like this book. It has a history of New York delis, how they developed from pushcarts that sold foods, information on the foods sold and where they are originally from. I enjoyed his discussion about New York delis the most and especially his discussion of my favorite NY deli - Katz, and my wife's - Stage Deli.

More seriously he also talks about the demise of the New York deli, how high rents, health concerns (eating low fat) and changing tastes are leading to the demise of the NY deli. Even the current popularity of BBQ meats has affected delis - brisket is far more expensive than it once was.

That is sad but be also talks about another deli that closed and has since re-opened (2nd Ave Deli).

He travels around some parts of the US, Canada and Europe to sample delis in those areas. Not all of the US is included, unfortunately. I was sad to see there are no delis reviewed in New England. I think the book would have been better if he could have taken the time to travel all of the US but the author seemed to have time constraints that precluded this.

The information on Europe was quite interesting, especially his discussion of delis in Paris and Poland. Parisian deli meats are very carefully done and excellent, as one would expect in France.

The discussion of delis in Poland was very sad. In the absence of Jews delis seemed more like a museum or theme park where people tried to show what delis were like but it was disconnected from reality. For example the gift shop at the deli sold stereotypical jewish character figurines with gold coins and also had a band that played traditional songs but none of it was real or personal to the players. (The lack of Jews in Poland is a result of the Holocaust and prejudice driving most of the survivors away) (I am a gentile and I apologize if I have given offense. It is unintentional.)

If you enjoy delis you will find this book very interesting. If you are traveling to New York city you will get tips on delis to try. I know I'll be trying 2nd Ave Deli next time I am in the city.

When I selected this title I was expecting it to be somewhat like a cookbook based on a big road trip. It is not quite what I thought it would be but it is still a very enjoyable read.

The author describes throughout this title the various aspects of different forms of Jewish delis, including a description of the different types of "kosher" - I didn't know there were distinctions between kosher forms. He explains quite a bit about the history of the deli, its rise and fall in relation to history and the direction in which delis are headed these days. He connects the dots with different trends and makes the whole topic much more interesting.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the book for me was in the beginning pages where he describes working in a deli for a day as part of his research. I got sucked into the scene and thoroughly enjoyed his descriptions of interactions not only with customers but also with other people working in the deli that day.

The author put a tremendous amount of time and research into this book.

Save the Deli is not a cookbook, but rather it is more of a lighthearted history book filled with unusual nuggets of knowledge about a topic most people take for granted. If you enjoy books about food topics and like lighter reading, you will very likely find this book to be a pleasure to read.

As a nice Askenazi Jewish girl growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in both Brooklyn and the Bronx, Jewish deli was a mainstay of my family's culinary life. It was just about the only place we ever went out to eat, typically on a Sunday afternoon (that is, until my sister and I were old enough to be allowed to go to Lee's, the local Chinese, on our own; my Polish Jewish mother would not eat that trayf -- but we were allowed to!). Pastrami, tongue, Dr. Brown's cherry sodas, knishes -- kasha as well as potato -- were foods we lived for. Cold cut platters from the deli adorned every family home gathering (unless it was decided to have a lox, white fish, and cream cheese platter from the Appetizing Store for a "dairy" treat).

David Sax captures the sights, smells, energy, and attitudes of the delis of my childhood and does it with gusto and glee. But tinged with sadness for this rapidly passing culinary treasure and the culture that created and nurtured it. Every neighborhood I lived in as a child and teenager had at least two competing "kosher" delis. We debated the merits of the hot dogs at one and the pastrami at the other. Who had the better knishes? (I will always remember the potato knishes at George & Sid on Church Avenue in East Flatbush for their slightly sweet, flaky pastry wrapping and flecks of sweet carrot. I've never seen their like anywhere else.) As the Jews moved further out to different parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens (where I live now) the delis moved too. Until they could move no longer. Now, so few remain, as Sax laments.

That one so young could have such an "alte kupf" to know and understand the deli world is amazing to me. He really brings the world of the deli and the Eastern European Jews who created and fostered the cuisine to life. The only reason I give it 4 instead of 5 stars is that I would have liked color photos of the food and some quintessential recipes so those of us who no longer have easy access to a real kosher-style deli could try to recreate some of the dishes ourselves.

BTW, after many years of avoiding hot pastrami and tongue sandwiches for "health and nutrition" reasons, I recently made my very first visit to the renowned Katz's on the Lower East Side for a tongue sandwich. We took some visiting not-really-Jewish-any-longer family from California there to give them a little taste of their long-ago heritage. Boy, did they love it! And, yeah, so did I. I'll be back. Soon I hope!

If you have a love of delis you really need this book. I defy you not to get hungry and have cravings for deli food as you read this.

David Sax gives a history of how the delicatessen originated and the ruler of deli to my thinking, the history of pastrami. He explores delis all over the world, rightfully devoting 75+ of 269 pages to New York delis. You can laugh at descriptions, even of a NY Chinese restaurant serving pastrami fried rice after developing a taste for it in NY delis.

Delis are visited all over the United States, Canada and in London, Belgium. Poland and Paris. Visits are described and never fear addresses are given in a section in the back of the book. He never shirks his opinions - the lack of deli atmosphere in Chicago, the surprising hope for delis in Las Vegas, but then their mostly disappointing quality, proving his point that you need family owned delis like those in Los Angeles and the appalling thought of deli chains.

If you have ever been stationed/living outside of the US you can nod in remembrance of his descriptions of having eaten at less than wonderful foreign delis and still being transported back to your home deli - so strong is the love of delis. Oh where was that huge list of London delis when I was stationed in England and had to hunt down the hidden dreams of real deli food

Sadly the overwhelming opinion throughout the book, both from owners, customers and David Sax himself is that in 10 or 15 years the deli will die. I comfort myself with the remembrance of my NY grandparents lamenting the certain death of NY cheesecake. He does apologize for leaving out some well known delis like Attmans in Baltimore (only an hour from his wanderings in DC). I'm sure there are more but with some as well known as they are I would have really liked his time spent in some of them rather than so many poor representatives in other places. Still it is a book to be treasured by those of us that cherish those pastrami or corned beef sandwiches and all of the other wonderful foods we love in those marvelous places.

Fans of the Jewish Deli will find much to like in David Sax's, "Save the Deli." While this book provides tremendous function to aficionados of deli cuisine as a guidebook to some of America's (as well as Candada) most beloved delis it also makes for a passionate and emotional read through Sax's insightful exposition into the heart and soul of this particular food culture. Everything you'd expect to be in a book covering this particular topic is there (deli overviews and explanations of standard fare) but there are plenty of surprises and humanistic insight, along with Sax's breezy writing style that kept me reading through the very end.