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Comments (0)David Sax started in New York City, the mecca of Jewish delicatessens. Then he hopped in his car and drove to the West Coast, with stops at delis in Washington, D.C., Detroit, Denver and San Francisco.
The result is “Save The Deli: In Search Of Perfect Pastrami, Crusty Rye, And The Heart of Jewish Delicatessen” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Mr. Sax’s first book. Next Wednesday, Oct. 21, he will speak about the book at the Sixth & I Synagogue in Washington.
To some, Mr. Sax’s quest to save America’s Jewish delis may sound quixotic. After all, there were once about 2,000 delis in New York alone. Now, there are 25.
Mr. Sax, 30, said he found the same sad story in city after city. Only in Los Angeles are delis thriving, largely due to their connection to Hollywood and their reputation as places to “do deals.”
“I have no culinary background, no special training, but I like to cook and eat,” Mr. Sax said in a telephone interview with the BALTIMORE JEWISH TIMES from his home in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Still, the idea for a book about delis didn’t come out of thin air. Mr. Sax, a free-lance writer, is a longtime fan of delis. A native of Toronto, he grew up eating deli food.
“There weren’t other books on the subject,” said Mr. Sax. “Or there were one or two coffee-table books.”
Mr. Sax spent three years researching the book, during which he visited 150 delis around the country. He also went to London, Paris and Poland, and worked briefly as a counterman at a New York deli. (In the book, the author mentions two local delis, Attman’s in East Baltimore and Miller’s in Pikesville.)
In “Save The Deli,” Mr. Sax chronicles the history of delis, from their beginnings in the mid-19th century to their heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, and their subsequent decline due to economic pressures and changing popular tastes.
He discusses the differences between glatt kosher delis and kosher-style delis. He also goes into detail about the way deli food is prepared, from the steaming of pastrami to the double baking of rye bread. He compares individually made deli food with the food from mass producers like Hebrew National.
The first part of the book is devoted to New York City, where such establishments as Katz’s, the 2nd Avenue Deli, the Carnegie Deli and the Stage Deli once flourished.
“People think of deli food as cheap food, so you can only charge so much,” Mr. Sax said. “The cost of your sandwich, which you think is high, ought to be higher” so delis make the profits required for survival.
There is also the matter of the changing American diet, and the current emphasis on healthy eating. “People don’t eat this food as much as they used to,” Mr. Sax said.
Still, he said he does see a future for delis. He devotes the second part of his book to his coast-to-coast travels, where he comes across wonderful delis in such places as Ann Arbor, Mich., Portland, Ore., and Boulder, Colo.
Nowadays, delis cannot survive on Jewish patronage alone, Mr. Sax said. They need to attract a diverse clientele, and some have succeeded in doing so. In Detroit, Mr. Sax visited Ginsberg’s, where the patrons enjoying the deli fare are primarily African-American non-Jews.
Mr. Sax said delis must “stay true” to the cuisine and make sure their food is made with the best products and ingredients available. They have to maintain the deli culture, a combination of “warmth and schtick.”
So far, Mr. Sax said he has received positive feedback on the book, even from the deli owners and workers he interviewed. “I really wanted to get the culture right,” he said. “So as long as they’re happy with it, I am, too.”
Who? David Sax
What? Talk on his book “Save The Deli”
When? Oct. 21, 7 p.m., Sixth and I Synagogue, 600 I St. N.W., Washington, D.C.
Cost? $6, or two free tickets with the purchase of the book at the door.
More? Call Jackie Leventhal at 202-266-3234.