Jewish deli

A Jewish deli, also known as a Jewish delicatessen, is a store that serves various traditional dishes of Jewish cuisine, mostly Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine. Known for their robust sandwiches, such as pastrami on rye and Reuben sandwiches, they also specialize in traditional Jewish diaspora soups and other ethnically rooted dishes. As retail delicatessens, most also sell a selection of their products such as sliced meats by the pound, prepared salads, pickles, and offer dine-in or take-out.

The emergence of the Jewish deli developed in accordance with local culture. Jewish delis differed from their German deli counterparts mostly by being kosher. These days, while some delis have full kosher certification, others operate in a kosher-style, refraining from mixing meat and dairy in the same dish. Other Jewish delis serve non-kosher animal products such as bacon or shellfish and non-kosher dishes such as the Reuben sandwich.

Jewish delis feature prominently in Jewish culture, as well as in general American popular culture, particularly in the cities of New York, Chicago and Los Angeles as well as in Canada, especially in Montreal and Toronto. The United Kingdom has also historically been a home to many Jewish delis, especially in the London area.

The origins of the American Jewish delicatessen can be traced to the wave of German immigration to the United States in the mid-1800s. In the decade spanning from 1850 to 1860 nearly one million Germans immigrated to America, both Jews and non-Jews, with 215,000 Germans arriving in the United States in 1854 alone. Some of these immigrants opened storefronts to make a living, and to offer culturally familiar food to other immigrants. Many of the original establishments were inspired by German delikatessens, selling beef frankfurters, sauerkraut, cold cuts, dill pickles and liverwurst.

According to American author and professor Ted Merwin, the deli experienced its most significant growth not during the initial wave of immigration, as commonly assumed, but rather during the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s. During this time that the offspring of Jewish immigrants and Ashkenazi immigrants from Eastern Europe began to frequent delis in the theater district, where they indulged in sandwiches and cheesecake. The kosher deli trailed the Jewish community as it dispersed into the city's outer boroughs, serving as a tangible emblem of its members enduring commitment to their cultural heritage.

After the Holocaust, a new Jewish population within the United States would facilitate the reintroduction of these community staples. While upon their arrival many of the post-war Jewish immigrants would work in the meat industry, some business owners would transform their butcher shops into operational delicatessens, something that many modern Americans are likely to be familiar with.

As Jewish delis rose in popularity in New York, they became a bridge between second-generation Jewish immigrants and their origins. They served as a cultural gathering place for the community. Merwin suggests that the Jewish deli became a secular equivalent of the synagogue for a generation of Jews who were no longer as interested in attending religious services.The second generation's increased access to deli meats was a sign of growing success, something their parents would not have been able to afford when first arriving to the United States.

From their roots as an extension of kosher butcher shops, delis often have a long counter and glass cases showing the meats and takeaway food offerings. Delis expanded to have tables and chairs, that being at the center of a case before the New York Supreme Court in 1910 questioning if this made a deli a restaurant. The ruling was that it did not, and that delicatessens come in all shapes and offerings without narrowing them to the definition of a restaurant.