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Home Cured Pastrami

Yield: 12 Servings

5 lb slab of beef flanken or brisket
1/2 cup Kosher salt
2 tablespoon Sugar
2 tsp Ground ginger
1 tsp Saltpeter
1 tablespoon Coriander seeds
1/4 cup Peppercorns
1 clove Finely chopped garlic

Pat the meat dry. Combine the salt, sugar, ginger and salt peter in a mixing bowl. Coarsely crush the coriander seeds and peppercorns, using a mallet or the bottom of a clean, heavy skillet. Or grind coarsely. Add them to the bowl along with the garlic. Blend well. Rub the mixture into the meat. Place the seasoned meat in a plastic bag and seal tightly. Place in a tray large enough to hold it. Refrigerate and turn the bag over once a day so that the meat seasons evenly. Let the meat cure for seven or eight days.

Remove the meat and drain the liquid that accumulated. Save the solid seasonings and discard the liquid. Rub the solid back into the meat. Use a needle to run a string through the meat. Tie the ends of the string together. Suspend the meat on the string and let it dry in a dry, cool windy place or use an electric fan. Dry for about 24 hours. Hang the meat in a smoker and smoke two and one-half to three hours at about 150 to 160 degrees.

NOTE:
You could cure the meat up to three weeks depending on the thickness and smoke it for 4 to 5 hours. The garlic is optional. The key is to be very generous with the black pepper AND the coriander seeds. The saved spices from the corning liquid are pressed into the surface of the meat before smoking it.

When you spoke of Romanian corned beef, I immediately thought of pastrami which is basically corned and smoked brisket. I don't have any recipes that are particularly Romanian but the pastrami at Schwartz's (Romanian Jewish Deli) in Montreal tastes very like Kardash's (Polish) in Ottawa or Shopsy's (country?) in Toronto. I believe the technique is common to Jews throughout Eastern Europe. The concept seemed to have originated in Armenia where it is called Burstrami.