pastrami Archives

Goodness, those New York delis know how to make a decent sarnie, don’t they?

This is a take on classic Reuben sandwich, which has about a thousand origin stories. Whatever its beginnings, this stacked snack is packed with sharp, salty, savoury delights. I can’t claim this is authentic; just “inspired by”. I’ve put lovely, lovely Comté in here. The sweet nuttiness is brilliant with the strong meaty flavours.

I had to buy an enormous jar of sauerkraut to make this; just as well I’ve discovered I have a real appetite for it!

Reuben style sandwich (serves 1):

6 inch french stick bread

2 gherkins, sliced

2 slices pastrami

1 slice salt beef

30g Comté cheese, grated

Mayonnaise

English mustard

1 heaped tablespoon sauerkraut

Preheat your grill to high. Slice the bread in half and pop under the grill and heat the cut side until dry and crisp. Remove one side from the grill and spread over mayo and mustard as desired. Brush the other side lightly with oil, top with the sauerkraut, meats, gherkins and cheese and put back under the grill until the cheese starts to melt. Sandwich together and munch happily.

pastrami sandwich

I bloody hate rubbish sandwiches. Particularly those sweaty little things in a triangular plastic box that are both cold and miserable (very British I suppose). When the weekend comes, I demand a decent sarnie.

There’s loads I love, but I really dig salt beef, and in particular it’s butch cousin pastrami. Not a big deal in the UK, this peppery meat with it’s ruby flesh it’s utterly moreish and wonderfully carnivorous. So I fancied some today.

To make it as perfect as I could, I prepared ahead and made some bread too. Quite a bubbly and crusty one, so plenty of mouth feel. Then I added a little butter to each open side to prevent the bread getting soggy. I mixed some English mustard with a little mayonnaise to get that creamy colour, and slapped that most American of sandwich ingredients on top: slices of crunchy, sweet pickle. (Or ‘gherkin’ if we’re going to be British about it). Then waves of tasty meat.

There’s so much flavour going on here, it’s marvellous. Chewy bread, crunchy gherkin, the tang of mustard and tear of meat… that’s a sandwich.