Ordering This Bread Is The Fastest Way To Mess Up A Jewish Deli Sandwich

Among the most common foods at a Jewish deli are deli sandwiches, stacked with outrageous amounts of smoked meats like pastrami to corned beef. However, an employee at Katz's Delicatessen — one of the best Jewish delis in the U.S., with one of the best pastrami sandwiches — shared some unwritten rules when visiting a Jewish deli in a Youtube short video. "If you want to be made fun of, just start asking for white bread and mayo or avocado or bean sprouts or crap like that," he said. "That's not what we do here. This is a traditional New York deli, pastrami on rye, mustards the best condiment, period." It's safe to say that ordering a sandwich on white bread from a Jewish deli is blasphemous.

White bread isn't the only bread-related mistake to avoid at a Jewish deli. Even challah bread, another wildly famous Jewish staple, is a faux pas when it comes to deli sandwiches because the soft, brioche-like crumb will surely disintegrate under the moisture and weight of all the meat. Rye seems to be the only socially acceptable option, and for good reason. It's soft, yet sturdy enough to hold it's own under the generous portions of meat. Caraway seeds — the key ingredient that gives rye bread its distinct flavor — certainly have detractors, but the tangy, licorice tasting notes are as integral a part of the Jewish deli sandwich as the meat itself. In this scenario, there's truly no better option. 

Rye bread is a globally beloved type of bread, whether you order it in a Jewish deli or make your own at home. As its name implies, rye bread consists of rye flour which is much more hearty and healthy than other types of wheat flour. It's also what gives rye bread a sturdy structure. Traditional Jewish deli recipes and Scandinavian rye breads utilize a sourdough starter as a leavener, as rye has less gluten than other wheat flavors, which inhibits the leavening mechanisms of yeast. 

Store-bought rye bread typically has a much larger ratio of wheat to rye flour and uses yeast, making for a much lighter, softer crumb. A sourdough rye bread is certainly the way to go about making rye bread for your deli sandwiches at home. If you don't like caraway seeds, the best way to achieve the ideal flavor of homemade Jewish rye bread is to swap them for nigella seeds, which will also complement the umami-richness of those generous meaty sandwich fillings.

If you're sticking with the classic Jewish deli experience, there are a few more mistakes to avoid with sandwiches. While America is the land of customizations, you want to be as true to the classic lineup of sandwiches as possible. The meat is truly spectacular and deserves to be the star of the show. Plus, the sandwiches are piled high with meat as it is, so adding any extras could be disastrous.