National Hot Pastrami Day

The story

Pastrami’s story begins in the kitchens of Jewish communities in Romania, where ‘pastrama’ (a word derived from the Romanian term for preservation) was a method to keep meat edible before refrigeration. When Romanian Jewish immigrants brought this tradition to America in the late 19th century, beef navel replaced goose as the go-to meat, thanks to its affordability. Enter New York’s Sussman Volk, a kosher butcher who, in 1887, transformed a Romanian friend’s recipe into a hit.

He layered pastrami on rye bread, added pickles, and gave us the first pastrami sandwich, a creation so popular, it turned his butcher shop into a deli. A true hot pastrami sandwich starts with thin slices of smoky, spiced pastrami nestled between slices of fresh rye bread. Add a dollop of mustard, a side of pickles, and—if you’re feeling fancy—a layer of sauerkraut or Swiss cheese for a Reuben twist.

Toast or grill the whole thing, and you’ve got a sandwich with a crispy exterior and tender, juicy interior that hits all the right notes.