Pastrami Sandwich

Pastrami is beef brisket that is brined, seasoned, smoked and steamed, resulting in succulent, fat-striated meat so tender that it must be sliced fairly thick, lest it fall apart. The classic pastrami sandwich is made on rye bread, dressed with mustard. In most restaurants — especially in New York delis — the pastrami is piled impossible high (and priced accordingly). In those cases, it is common for customers to request two or four more pieces of bread to turn the one sandwich into two or three. The Montreal cognate of pastrami is called smoked meat, and although they are very similar, smoked meat tends to be darker and more peppery.