Montreal-style smoked meat, Montreal smoked meat or simply
smoked meat in Quebec (French: ''smoked-meat''; sometimes ''viande fumée'' or even ''bœuf mariné'': Literally “marinated beef”) is a type of
kosher-style deli
Deli may refer to:
* Delicatessen, a shop selling specially prepared food, or food prepared by such a shop
* Sultanate of Deli, a former sultanate in North Sumatra, Indonesia
Places
* Deli, Boyer-Ahmad, a village in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Pro ...
meat product made by salting and curing beef
brisket with spices. The brisket is allowed to absorb the flavours over a week, is then
hot smoked to cook through, and finally is steamed to completion. This is a variation on
corned beef
Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added ...
and is similar to
pastrami.
Preparation
Although the preparation method may be similar to New York
pastrami, Montreal smoked meat is cured in seasoning with more cracked
peppercorns and savoury flavourings, such as
, garlic, and mustard seeds, and significantly less sugar.
The recipe for
Montreal steak seasoning
Montreal steak seasoning, also known as Montreal steak spice, Canadian steak seasoning, or Canadian steak spice, is a spice mix used to flavour steak and grilled meats. It is based on the dry-rub mix used in preparing Montreal smoked meat, which ...
is based on the seasoning mixture for Montreal smoked meat.
Montreal smoked meat is made with variable-fat brisket, whereas pastrami is more commonly made with the fat-marbled
navel/plate cut.
Montreal smoked meat is typically served in the form of a light-
rye bread
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat ...
sandwich
A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...
accompanied with
yellow mustard. While some Montreal smoked meat is brine-cured like
corned beef
Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added ...
, with spices applied later, many smoked meat establishments prefer dry-curing directly with salt and spices.
History
The origins of Montreal smoked meat are uncertain and likely unresolvable. Many have laid claims to the creation or introduction of smoked meat into Montreal. Regardless, all of these stories indicate the creators are of the Jewish Diaspora from Romania or Eastern Europe:
* Some point to Benjamin Kravitz, who founded
Bens De Luxe Delicatessen & Restaurant
Bens De Luxe Delicatessen and Restaurant was a renowned delicatessen in Montreal, Canada. The restaurant was famed for its Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich. During its heyday it was a popular late-night dining fixture in the downtown core ...
in 1910, as the introducer of Montreal smoked meat. According to the Kravitz family, he used a brisket-curing method he recalled being practised by Lithuanian farmers. His first smoked meat sandwiches were made and sold from his wife's fruit and candy store.
[
* According to Eiran Harris, a Montreal historian, Herman Rees Roth from New York may have created the first smoked meat sandwich in 1908, selling them from his deli, the British American Delicatessen Store.][
* In another claim by ]Bill Brownstein
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Pla ...
, the smoked meat was brought over in 1902 by Itzak Rudman, who was an accomplished salami and smoked meat maker who had a shop on de Bullion Street (formerly Cadieux Street).
* In yet another possibility, a butcher by the name of Aaron Sanft who arrived from Iași
Iași ( , , ; also known by other alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the second largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, it has traditionally ...
, Romania, in 1884 founded Montreal's first kosher butcher and likely made smoked meat in the Romanian style similar to '' pastrama''.
Serving
Warm Montreal smoked meat is always sliced by hand to maintain its form, since doing so with a meat slicer would cause the tender meat to disintegrate. Whole briskets are kept steaming and sliced up on demand when ordered in the restaurant to maintain its temperature.
Even when hand-cut, Montreal smoked meat produces a considerable amount of broken bits when sliced. These pieces are gathered together and commonly served with French fries
French fries (North American English), chips (British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or ''allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France. Th ...
, cheese curds, and gravy
Gravy is a sauce often made from the juices of meats that run naturally during cooking and often thickened with wheat flour or corn starch for added texture. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt (a simple mix of sa ...
as smoked meat poutine or served over spaghetti with Bolognese sauce or even pizza.
Montreal-style smoked meat sandwiches are typically built with seedless, light rye bread
Rye bread is a type of bread made with various proportions of flour from rye grain. It can be light or dark in color, depending on the type of flour used and the addition of coloring agents, and is typically denser than bread made from wheat ...
, and piled with hand-sliced smoked meat about high with yellow prepared mustard. The customer can specify the amount of fat in the smoked meat:
* Lean: the lean and less flavourful end. Relatively healthful but dry.
* Medium and medium fat: the most popular cuts from the middle of the brisket. Occasionally, a sliced mix of lean and fat meats.
* Old-fashioned: a cut between medium and fatty and often cut a bit thicker.
* Fat: from the fat end of the brisket
* Speck: consists solely of the spiced subcutaneous fat
The subcutaneous tissue (), also called the hypodermis, hypoderm (), subcutis, superficial fascia, is the lowermost layer of the integumentary system in vertebrates. The types of cells found in the layer are fibroblasts, adipose cells, and macro ...
from the whole brisket without meat.
Cultural identity
Montreal smoked meat is offered in many diners and fast food restaurant chains in Montreal, the rest of Quebec, and the rest of Canada. Along with bagels, smoked meat has been popular in Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...
since the 19th century and is identified as emblematic of the city's cuisine. Despite the food's origins in, and association with, Montreal's Jewish community and, contrary to what is sometimes asserted, delis are seldom certified as kosher
(also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...
.
Montreal writer Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
sardonically described the flavour of smoked meat from Schwartz's, a Montreal deli, in his novel '' Barney's Version'', as a "maddening aphrodisiac" to be bottled and copyrighted as "Nectar of Judea".
Montreal smoked meat has also been integrated into Quebec dishes such as poutine.
See also
* Deli meat
* Montreal steak seasoning
Montreal steak seasoning, also known as Montreal steak spice, Canadian steak seasoning, or Canadian steak spice, is a spice mix used to flavour steak and grilled meats. It is based on the dry-rub mix used in preparing Montreal smoked meat, which ...
* Cuisine of Quebec
* Montreal-style bagel
* Reuben sandwich
* Pastrami
* Corned beef
Corned beef, or salt beef in some of the Commonwealth of Nations, is salt-cured brisket of beef. The term comes from the treatment of the meat with large-grained rock salt, also called "corns" of salt. Sometimes, sugar and spices are added ...
* List of sandwiches
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* List of smoked foods
This is a list of smoked foods. Smoking is the process of flavoring, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Foods have been smoked by humans throughout history. Meats and f ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Montreal-Style Smoked Meat
Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Montreal
Smoked meat
Jewish cuisine
Lunch meat
Sandwiches
Montreal cuisine
Cuisine of Quebec
Canadian cuisine
Jewish Canadian cuisine
Jews and Judaism in Montreal
Romanian-Jewish culture in Canada