I tried to resist, I really did, but when I read Anthony Barrasso’s Jan. 29 reply (advertisement) to Bill Smith’s Jan. 25 Maine Voices lament that the art of making real Italian sandwiches was becoming lost, being interbred (pun intended) with gyros and hoagies, I had to throw a bag over my head to keep from hyperventilating.

If push came to shove, you could make your own Italian sandwich. Where, oh where, please tell me, can I find a real kosher delicatessen without going to New York – Boston, maybe?

I’m talking about a delicatessen where as soon as you open the door, the fragrance knocks you out. Soups like kreplach and matzoh ball are simmering. There is chicken liver paté, gefilte fish, jars of half-done kosher dills and fat rounds of pumpernickel bread.

The aroma of roasting beef and turkey add to the other amazing smells because they come from the ovens in the kitchen and actually taste like roasted beef and turkey, unlike the precooked and prepackaged beef and turkey offered at the local grocery delis.

And I’m talking about real pastrami and corned beef, honest to God potato salad and coleslaw that doesn’t taste like it’s made with face cream.

I went into a “deli” a while back for a pastrami sandwich. The man sliced something that looked like pastrami, threw the slices into boiling water and when it was thoroughly dead, pulled it out and put the remains on a couple of pieces of bread and handed it to me.

So, you see, gentlemen, mine is the more serious dilemma.

Marlee Hill

Cape Elizabeth


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.