Peanut butter and jelly. Bacon and eggs. Wine and cheese. Burger and fries. Corned beef on rye. Well, you may want to press pause on adding that last item to the list of indelible food pairings. While traditionalists would likely call the thought of using any other bread for their corned beef sandwiches blasphemous, some are experimenting to see if other breads might replace rye in the classic combo.
Rye bread first became associated with corned beef in the late nineteenth century, when the first delicatessens started popping up on the Lower East Side of New York City. The shops sold preserved meats like corned beef, a dry-cured meat made from the first or second cut of brisket, and served them on thick slices of rye bread, which could soak up the excess fat and make the dish more portable. With wheat expensive and hard to come by in central and eastern Europe, Ashkenazi Jews had been using rye to make bread since the Middle Ages. Upon arriving in the United States, they began combining rye with wheat to create what is now known as deli rye, or Jewish rye.
Things have changed little since that time. Order a corned beef at Katz’s delicatessen, the Lower East Side stalwart that has been operating since 1888 (and became famous for a particular scene in “When Harry Met Sally” almost one hundred years later), and it will be served on rye. The only other choice is club bread, for which you’ll pay a dollar extra.
Try other types of rye, sourdough, or soda bread
While you might not be presented with choices at a traditional deli like Katz’s, there are ways to switch it up with other types of rye. If you’ve taken the time to home cure your own corned beef, try making your own bread with different types of rye flour: white/light, medium, and dark. For a fluffier rye bread, use a white or light rye flour; this has the bran and germ removed, which results in a light, airy version of the bread. There are many different types of rye bread, with various countries throughout Europe each making their own versions. Some consider the next best alternative to be marble rye, a bread that combines light rye with the darker rye known as pumpernickel.
If you’re more likely to consider corned beef the official food of St. Patrick’s Day, as celebrated by Irish-Americans, then you may want to stick with the day’s other traditional food, Irish soda bread. This is a recommendation from Darren McGrady, who was the personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales, and Princes William and Harry.
Since rye is often made with a sourdough starter, which gives the bread its often tangy taste, some suggest making an easy switch to sourdough or a thick country bread. Of course, it all depends on your personal preference. But given the reaction Meg Ryan had as Sally, rye bread may be your best bet.
