Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of the Jewish DeliTedMerwin. New York University Press, 2015.

Abstract

Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of Deli Ted Merwin. New York University Press, 2015.Before getting to meat of matter, first things first. Let's get all puns out of way. If you're looking for a platter full of culinary delights alongside a smorgasbord of history, you need not look any further than Ted Merwin's Pastrami on Rye: An Overstuffed History of Deli. No skimpy servings here. To contrary, with so much to nosh on and so little to kvetch about, this book is whole schmear.Divided into four parts tracing history of deli from establishment of first delicatessens in Eastern Europe and United States in eighteenth and nineteenth centuries-to glory years of delicatessens in 1920s and 1930s-to role these delicatessens played on home front and in battlefields during second World War and transformations they underwent, afterward, in postwar era-to declining state of delicatessen today, Merwin's cultural history of delicatessen is encyclopedic in scope, rich in substance, and intimate in details.As Merwin frames it, the history of delicatessen is history of Jews eating themselves into Americans (1). And as Merwin chronicles it, this history begins in early years of twentieth century as New York delicatessen provides immigrants with an economic foothold in New York restaurant and food services industries. It flourishes in years between World War One and World War Two as children of these immigrants transform that foothold into a fixture of culture-and a symbol of success-by establishing New York deli as an integral part of New York City social scene. It reconfigures itself in postwar years as increasingly secular, upwardly mobile, second- and thirdgeneration branching into suburbs, rely on kosher delis to serve as one of their few remaining cultural connections to their heritage. And finally, it all but ends in waning years of twentieth century as a confluence of changing times, tastes, and traditions contribute to demise of delicatessen along with so much of culture and community that, for so many generations, sustained it.Incorporating multiple methodologies and theoretical approaches, intertwining more than two dozen archival photographs and illustrations, and including over 500 supplementary notes, scholarship in Pastrami on Rye is exemplary. But equally important for an academic study, Pastrami on Rye is also a very good read. At heart of this read is a uniquely yet very common tale of immigrant aspiration for assimilation without disassociation. Throughout Pastrami on Rye, Merwin tells this tale with verve and relish signifying, well, much more than nothing. Among many substantive questions he explores and/or raises, for example, are what happens when immigrants come to a new country and they and their descendants transform-and are transformed by -that country's culture? At what point did Jewish Americans become American Jews, not only in name but in identity, and with what consequences to that identity? In what ways has culture become indistinguishable from America popular culture, and what historic role did delicatessen play in blurring of this demarcation?Like all good historical studies, Pastrami on Rye includes, literally, thousands of historical details about delicatessen-more than enough to satisfy even most meticulous of historians, while, at times, overwhelming its nonhistorian readers. …