I spent New Year’s 2011-12 in the wonderful Istanbul, a fascinating city that turned out to be a pleasant surprise.
Its being halfway between East and West makes it truly unique.
There is a magic created as the sun sets over the Bosphorus and along the city streets when the muezzin calls for prayer, it is something inexplicable, one can only experience it.
At that time, Turkey had a better political situation and tourism was flourishing, unfortunately in a few years Erdoğan killed any prospects of growth (and not just that!)
Istanbul offers a lot both culturally (remember to visit the underground cisterns!), in terms of leisure, and especially in choosing among numerous high-quality restaurants.
Food is indeed another point in its favor and it places Istanbul in my top five European cities.
Turkish cuisine originates from Ottoman cuisine, which can be described as a fusion and refinement of Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean cuisines. It is not homogeneous, except for some typical Turkish dishes that can be found all over the country; there are many regional specialties.
The most frequently used ingredients are: meat, eggplants, green peppers, onions, garlic, lentils, beans, and tomatoes. As well as spices and all varieties of dried fruits.
Perhaps the most well-known dish is the döner kebab (kebap in Turkish), literally the kebab that turns, referring to the vertical spit on which the meat is skewered and grilled, rotating on the rotisserie axis, but my choice is more original…
it is indeed Pastrami.
Pastrami is a typical dish of the Jewish culinary tradition of Eastern Europe.
Flavorful, spiced meat enclosed between two slices of rye bread, which was exported overseas with the migratory wave of the second half of the 1800s headed to America.
The place where Pastrami is most used is the USA, where it is served on a plate or as a sandwich (“Pastrami on rye” which in New York is made with brisket, accompanied by pickles and a slaw of finely chopped cabbage, mayonnaise, and mustard: the coleslaw -).
It is prepared in many other countries in the world, including Romania and Israel, where it is part of local traditions.
In Turkey, Pastrami is made from transforming turkey breast, processed similarly to red meats, and then used to make sandwiches flavored with various sauces.
The origins are to be found in the Middle Eastern and Turkish countryside, later moving to Romanian ones, becoming a gastronomic specialty of Romania, where it is prepared with sheep meat.
The etymology dates back to pastırma, a word of Ottoman Turkish origin referring to “basturma” which means “pressed.”
An origin is linked to a legend that tells of how Turkish horsemen used to preserve meat between two boards placed at the sides of their saddles, thus, pressed between their legs.
This dish was born from the need to preserve meat for a long time before the advent of the refrigerator.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Days
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Other
- Cuisine: Turkish
For the brine
- 1 oz juniper berries
- 1 oz black peppercorns
- 3 leaves bay leaves
- 1 oz brown sugar
- 0.5 oz ground ginger
- 1 oz coarse salt
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 2 cloves
- to taste paprika
- 2 liters cold water
- 0.35 oz black pepper
- 0.35 oz coriander seeds
- 0.18 oz mustard seeds
- 0.18 oz fennel seeds
- 3.3 lbs turkey breast
Preparation
Let’s start with the brine: grate the ginger and garlic, break up the bay leaves, and lightly crush the other spices. Put the water on the heat with all the ingredients except the salt, which we will add only when it begins to simmer. Let the water boil for 5-6 minutes, stirring until the salt and sugar are dissolved, and let it cool until it’s lukewarm (about 86°F).
Place the turkey breast in a baking dish, drench with the cold liquid, wrap the turkey in cellophane or a zip-lock bag, and let it rest in the fridge for 24/48 hours (the long marination makes the pastrami much more fragrant, flavorful, and tender).
Crush the toasted seeds in a mortar, grinder, or small chopper until they are reduced to a powder.
Remove the meat from the marinade and dry it carefully; it should remain slightly moist. At this point, roll it in the spices to cover the piece on all sides, massaging well to allow the spices to penetrate as much as possible.
Set up our smoker for INDIRECT cooking at about 250-266°F, smoke for 15-20 minutes with sweet woods like apple, cherry, apricot, depending on our taste, and continue cooking until the pastrami reaches 169°F at the core.
If you don’t have a smoker, you can proceed as indicated HERE.
At this point, the original recipe would like the cooking to be completed in a steam oven, but you can use a static oven, wrapping the meat in several layers of aluminum foil and making holes with a fork, trying to put the fattier part on top.
The oven temperature should be between 230°F/302°F and the cooking time around 2 and a half hours (turning the pastrami halfway) or until the meat reaches 140°F: use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature of the meat.
Without removing the fatty part, slice the pastrami into slices about 1/4 inch thick or slice as thinly as possible without the meat falling apart.
The PASTRAMI ON RYE instead consists of sliced beef pastrami on rye bread, often served with mustard and dill pickles.
It was popularized in the Jewish delis of New York City and has been described as New York’s “signature sandwich.”
It was created in 1888 by Lithuanian immigrant Sussman Volk, who served it at his deli on Delancey Street in Manhattan.
THIS IS THE VERSION WITH BRISKET:
▶▶After a 24-hour injection brine, rub of coriander, paprika, and black pepper,
I performed cooking and smoking with a Kamado for 4 hours, set at 230°F, monitoring the internal temperature of the meat with a meat thermometer until reaching 199°F.
On a personalized cutting board that you can purchase on the website www.affettatartufi.eu/ with discount code ⭕️SELENE10⭕️
Above, the photo of the trip to Istanbul from December 30, 2011, to January 2, 2012
Affiliate link #adv
Femor-Smoker -Multifunction-Barbecue-thermometer, €69.99
The Katz’s Delicatessen in New York, became famous for the pastrami on rye, thanks to the famous scene from the movie “When Harry Met Sally”
