07.14.08

“Kosher Salami & Bologna taste much the same.”

Posted in Thoughts and Reflections at 5:03 pm by admin

Or so said the owner of Pumpernick’s on the phone today when I called.

(You’ll need to read yesterday’s post in order to understand what today’s post is about.)

He never gave me his name after I identified myself to him, and after I had to identify myself before my call would be put through to him by the person who answered the phone. I explained to the owner that I had eaten in his restaurant yesterday, and that I sometimes eat there several times a month. I told him what I ordered and that the sandwich was delicious, but that I ordered salami and got what I believe was bologna. I told him the meat, which I believe was bologna, tasted like a Hebrew National hot dog.

(If you don’t want to read a he said, he said, you can stop reading right now.)

He told me that his salami is cut on an angle to provide a larger slice which makes it oblong in shape, and that this could be why I may be mistaken. I told him the slices of meat on my sandwich were round not oblong and there were no dots of fat in the meat. Now, he did say he could not be 100% certain that I did not get salami, but he doubted it, and if it did happen it must have been an unintentional mistake. He also told me twice that the next time I come in, I should ask for him so he can show me how similar the two meats are, because they are packaged identically.

(At this point my spidey senses were tingling. Whenever a merchant of any kind immediately becomes defensive and tries to convince a customer that s/he is wrong, and why, rather than use good business sense and good business practice by immediately offering restitution, I begin to lose faith in the merchant and the establishment s/he represents. By the way, I was not seeking restitution. I told the owner that I genuinely enjoyed the sandwich and that I would continue to eat in his restaurant regardless, but I wanted to let him know that I believed I did not receive the sandwich I had ordered and why.)

I related to him what I saw in his deli case, that the Salami had tiny dots of fat where the Bologna didn’t, and that each log of salami was smaller in diameter than each log of bologna was in his deli case, and that I have been eating salami and bologna my entire life. He replied, “Well you really can’t tell once it’s cooked.” Dumbfounded I could only respond, “Oh really”, and no I did not state this as a question.

(At this point my spidey senses were a hummin’!)

I do have to admit that before yesterday, I had never knowingly eaten kosher salami. As of today, I do not believe I have ever eaten kosher salami, but I have eaten plenty of non-kosher salami of one kind or another be it Italian, Pennsylvania Dutch, or German, the same goes for bologna. I also love to make my own fried bologna sandwiches and fried salami sandwiches albeit Italian, Pennsylvania Dutch, or German, and no, I never mix them.

Since I’m not a kosher butcher, I must take this gentleman at his word.

Oh, by the way, the only thing I’m going to mention about food in this post is that Daniel is cooking dinner tonight.

O.P.W.

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