Well I had another successful bake with the Wheat Montana product. I backed off the hydration of the dough and did not proof it for as long and the end result was better. The crumb was a little tighter (which it really needed) and the exterior a little darker (which it did not need).
Anyway... I spent Monday and Tuesday in NY and had the good fortune to be taken to Nobu Fifty Seven, which is the product of innovative Japanese Chef Nobu Matsuhisa's partnership with Drew Nieporent and Robert De Niro. After some nice Edamame and some brightly flavored green tea we opted for the hundred-dollar-a-person tasting menu (which is the less expensive option -- the other is $150). Probably the combination of the fact that I wasn't paying and the truly awe-inspiring fare made this a stand out culinary experience for me. We must have had about seven courses, the majority of which seemed to include bizarre Asian fruits or exotic wild species of fish. Some of the combinations were unique and yet so perfect that although I would never have dreamt of them, they seemed almost obvious as soon as I tasted them (e.g. wild yellow tail (kampachi) with raw jalapeno and thinly sliced garlic).
The next day we hit the Carnegie Deli for some much less sophisticated but nevertheless time-honored fare. I have to say, the pastrami is incredible but why does the bread have to be such an after thought? Wouldn't real bread and not some bagged rye be that much better. Is there a Jewish deli tradition that builds on good bread? Can my readership of two address this question please.
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2 comments:
Pete- Thanks for asking. I'm no scholar, but my perspective of breads in the Jewish tradition........
A good challah is about the best Jewish bread that you can get. Unfortunately a sweet, eggy bread like challah doesn't really do a cold cut with spicy mustard justice. PB&J on challah is good, as is challah french toast, but nothing savory. When I was a kid, we used to get raisin challah coated with icing and sprinkles.
The only other traditional Jewish bread is matzo, a symbolic unleavened bread that has 3700 years of history behind it. The closest thing to heaven is a piece of matzo spread with a thin layer of chicken schmaltz. While steeped in symbolism, Matzoh is, again, not a great mustard bread.
So what is the best mustard bread? No doubt- Rye bread. However, rye was invented 2 millenium after matzoh by the culinary powerhouse- England. By comparison, not your traditional jewish bread.
Enter the jewish deli- proprietor cures and slices his own meat, but he's a butcher not a baker. Sure his wife can make her bubbe's challah, but this is not the stuff of pistrami and mustard sandwiches. Bottom line- Jewish delis need to outsource the bread. Now, as opposed to an afterthought, you have a serious business decision:
Go for a well crafted rye, increasing the meal's price and potentially upstaging the meat; or
settling on mediocrity for the rye, thus focusing attention on the house specialty- a heaping pile of flesh.
Perhaps the sit-down restaurant model, outsourcing good bread, works for some; and I'm sure a NYC deli or two has tried that model, but the really famous delis are about a different experience- not the bread.
One final thought regarding jews and bread. The prayer that every jew has always said at every meal for many thousands of years is "Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth". A simple but powerful tribute to the stuff of life.
Josh
That was beautiful Josh. I became a bit nostolgic for my meat-eating days -- I visited some glorious Jewish Delis in NYC back in the day ...
My mother would always make challah braided in a ring with homemade boursin in the middle for spreading. Not traditional maybe, but quite delicious. I always want to have that intense garlic with the challah now ...
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