Preview: Langer's Deli on Andrew Zimmern's Delicious Destinations

pastrami is a New York thing right and with so many delis in the five boroughs the best of the best of these sandwiches must come from the Big Apple not so fast plenty of food geeks consider the number 19 at langars deli in LA the best in its class hot pastrami on rye with Swiss cheese crunchy coleslaw and russian dressing for over six decades in Los Angeles's Westlake neighborhood Langer's has built up a dedicated fan base and formidable reputation for a sandwich simply called number 19 the number itself has no significance whatsoever when my dad created the menus and all the different items 67 years ago he put numbers on things for no particular reason norm liner's been working at the family deli since 1963 he swears the secret to their pastrami starts with how it's made most pastrami on the East Coast is made from beef brisket the muscle plates on the steers chest but West Coast style pastrami is often made from a cut near the navel which some consider juicier and easier to cook to a tender texture at Langer's the pastrami is steamed for at least three hours to melt down the connective tissue inside so the meat comes out achingly tender everything about how it's sliced stacked and served makes a difference in the sandwich Tinie my managers with with me 25 years he is hand cutting it so the product is juicy it's got to be cut against the grain so it's soft and not tough no number 19 has ever just slapped together on norms watch each one is carefully constructed on rye bread the start is russian dressing ketchup mayonnaise relish and a few other ingredients every sandwich gets about half pound of hot pastrami two paper thin slices of Swiss are placed on top gently melting from the heat of the beef then we have our coleslaw which is vinegar based not mayonnaise base after the halves are put together the sandwich is sliced and plated with a pickle it's like the best damn sandwich I've ever had clearly this heated pastrami debate will never be resolved fortunately there's no shortage of hungry customers willing to weigh in

Channel: Norm Langer

Views: 34,094

Keywords: Andrew Zimmern, Langer's Deli, #19

Id: DQE60VDarTs

Length: 2min 17sec (137 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 07 2018