History of New York Delis

This is a paper I wrote for my class Biography of a City:New York. It was an easy fun paper and I thought I would like to share it with the blog. It's a bit long but I will try to add pictures and make it more interesting. I took out the citations but I will add the works cited if you want to look up some of the information yourselves. Enjoy!

Mosaic of Meats : A History of New York Delis

Delicatessen is a term meaning “fine food” or “delicacies”. The word has its roots from Latin but it was Germany who first introduced delicatessens to New York City. Originally, the first stores spelled the word with a “K” instead of a “C” .

It entered American culture in New York and has spread to the point of commercialization. New York, today, is known for their delis and other delis outside of New York City call themselves “New York” style delis to evoke the image of the original New York Deli. Some say the City has the best delis because of the excellent water quality, therefore everything that is steamed tastes so good in New York, the bagels, the pastrami, the hot dogs. I contend that the melting pot of all the cultures in New York City combined into the greatest deli scene ever known.

According to the Sanford Levine owner of the famous Carnegie Deli in New York, Germans and Alsatians ran all delicatessens in New York until the nineteenth century. Many of us would refer to these types of shops as a European delicatessen and they would sell food by the weight which included liverwurst, pickled vegetables, dips, sausages, and other cold cut items. They do not characteristically sell take-out food which has become accustomed in American and Jewish in New York City. In a sense, they duplicated as grocery stores for local areas.

Dallmayr Building

The history of deli food has its origins in Germany more so or as much as any other country in Europe. Dallmayr is a delicatessen that dates back to the 17th century and is still open today functioning as a multifaceted restaurant, deli, coffee shop that offers party services. Dallmayr was the first store to import bananas, mangoes, and plums to the German population all the way from far away lands such as the Canary Islands and China. German emigration to America took off in the 18th century . New York was a popular place for Germans and in the 1860s it was estimated over one hundred thousand Germans lived in the city. The German influence in the City is still alive! The Yorkville neighborhood on the Upper East side of Manhattan was/is a large German hub. In the 19th century there was a part of the town named “Little Germany” which is now called “Alphabet City” because of the way that A, B, C, and D streets intersect the area. Today in the Yorkville area, Schaller & Weber sell authentic imported German foods. They were established in 1937 and over the years they have gained a reputation by winning various competitions and international prizes for their quality meats and sides. The bologna, sausage, pickles, and mustard are featured but they carry some hard to get imported German delicacies. Some of these items would be served in old German delis in their heyday; Spaetzle (German noodle dish), Landsberg breads and jellies, German cheeses such as Limburger, potato dumplings, and desserts such as German chocolates and marzipan.

Over 2 million Italians came to New York City from Europe between 1900 and 1910. The only 2 populations to immigrate more during this time were the Germans and the Irish. They immediately set up small Italian neighborhoods, some went to the Bronx, some to Brooklyn, and even a few to East Harlem. The most famous New York Italian neighborhood is the one in Manhattan, Little Italy, specifically Mulberry Street. Around the time of the influx of the Italian Americans Mulberry street was crowded with street vendors and businesses. Italian and German delis were similar in they generally charge meat and cheeses by the pound rather then to-go foods. Italian delis specialized in meats, cheeses, and pastas. The delicacies they provided from the old country included mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola, prosciutto, and salami. The Italian delis also carried sweets, like the traditional panettone cake and dried figs, as well as traditional Italian cooking spices and garnishes such as basil, oregano and olive oil. Today in Manhattan, at 200 Grand St, Di Palo's fine foods is a classic case of a traditional Italian deli. In 1903 Savino Di Palo came to America and started a “latteria” , a dairy store, in the Little Italy neighborhood. The store sold exclusively cheeses, until later generations made it a full deli with meats and other items for selections.

The Irish in New York City are a completely other story, in that they do not have “deli”, but rather that have pubs which served bar foods and Irish delicacies. They deserve mention because of a significant contribution to deli foods. Corned beef, cabbage, and beer is the traditional St. Patrick's day meal - The term “corned” is quite old in origin and technique includes putting meat in a large crock pot and covering it with large rock-salt kernels to preserve the meat. The Irish were the biggest exporters of corned beef until 1825. Corned beef is famous for being the main meat in the Reuben Sandwich, a deli classic.

With Eastern European immigrants came to the Jewish immigrants. Major Jewish immigration to New York began in the 1880s with the increase on antisemitism in Europe. The original population of Jews settled in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Jewish delis revolutionized the deli and everything we came to know about them. They served hot foods in a cafeteria style, where you pick up your tray order and go on up to the register and pay. Jewish delis follow the kosher laws and some of their delicacies include matzo ball soup, gefilte fish, and pastrami. Traditional pastrami is made from the navel end of the beef, which is much more fatty than the chest end of the beef. It is then “corned” and seasoned with different herbs and spices to obtain its flavor. The meat is meant to be steamed before slicing and serving. The word “pastrami” is derived from Yiddish but likely came from Turkish origin. A similar dish is served in Armenian cuisine called “basturma” and also as “basterma” in Arabic cuisine. Its current form is associated with a Jewish deli selling “pastrami” in New York City in 1887. It's likely the word was made to sound like the Italian word salami to make it more marketable to customers. The classic New York sandwich is the pastrami sandwich on rye. It comes in different variations, some people like it with coleslaw and other like it with Russian dressing which is similar to thousand island sauce.

The most famous and loved delis in New York are Jewish. They include the 2nd Ave Deli, The Stage Deli, The Carnegie Deli, and Katz' Deli. Some may argue which has the best sandwich but Katz' deli on the Lower East Side might be the most famous. Katz' was founded in 1888 by a Russian immigrant and is known for its pastrami, corned beef, and hot dogs. Every week Katz' is going through about twelve thousand pounds of meat. Its famous slogan “Send a salami to your boy in the army” came about in World War two and to this day salami is sent to troops in the war. Katz' was in the film When Harry Met Sally and has been featured on television both on PBS and the Travel Channel.

The deli as we know it in America was an evolution process. The first shops sold only meats and delicacies, but they eventually moved on to selling hot and prepared foods. The delis today remain specialized to the culture they originate from, but more varieties exist. American culture has spawned its own deli style with the submarine style sandwiches and commercialization of sandwiches with places like Subway and Quizno's. The Bay Area and Los Angeles have excellent traditional Jewish delis which I was able to attend for on field research on the traditional deli experience. With the great appeal and magnitude of meat aficionados it seems the deli will remain and evolve as tastes change.

So that was my paper, I hope you enjoyed it. As you can see New York has alot of cultures with different delis. I would love to get over there and try and handful of them to compare them to my favorite delis.

DiPalo, Lou. “Our Story”. DiPalo Selects. May 5, 2009.

Levine, Sanford. "History of a Deli." May 5, 2009. <http://www.carnegiedeli.com/history.html>.

Schaller and Weber. 2007. May 10. 2009.

“Dallmayr” Wikipedia. May 13. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallmayr>

“Delis” Wikipedia. March 23, 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delis>

“Demographics of New York City” Wikipedia. April 15. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_New_York_City>

“History of Corned Beef” April 23. 2009. <http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/CornedBeef.htm>

“New York” Man Vs. Food Travel Channel 22 April. 2009.

“Pastrami” Wikipedia. April 22. 2009. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastrami>