This story, I realized, is going to be harder than I thought.
Where do Pastrami and Smoked Meat Come From?
Overhead photo of Turkish-style pastırma on white serving plate.
Turkish-style pastırma, the great grandaddy of pastrami.
Let’s take a few steps back: where do pastrami and smoked meat come from? How did they become fixtures of the Jewish deli pantheon?
Caplansky noted one key difference between his smoked meat and Schwartz’s. “Schwartz’s doesn’t wood smoke their meat. Montreal banned wood smoking in restaurants many, many years ago. So Schwartz’s use an old electric smoker and the smoke isn’t the same part of the flavor profile.” Silva confirms this claim—Schwartz’s hasn’t wood smoked their meat for nearly 50 years.
Caplansky uses a wood smoker to produce what he proudly calls “Toronto smoked meat.” But even an electric smoker can elicit some smoky flavor. Sax and Sietsema, who both consider Schwartz’s smoked meat plenty smoky, point out how a brisket’s rendering fat produces its own smoke, flavoring the meat in its own way.
