I recently visited the I'll Have What She's Having: The Jewish Deli Exhibit which will be at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library on the Upper West Side through April 2, 2023. It’s a fun hoot about a delicious food history. I loved it! Curated by the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles California it is simply “SPOT ON”.
Accessible, and fun, this exhibit is as much about Jewish New York eateries as it is about a slice of New York History and even American history. But why a deli exhibit? Lara Rabinovitch, a co-curator of this exhibit has this to say “I think people are realizing the power of food in forging identity. There’s nothing like a bowl of matzah ball soup to stir your memories. And as much as the exhibition follows these and other traditions, it also explores how they have changed over time”.
Personally, I remembered Harry’s Deli in East Flatbush on my street corner. When we were lucky, my father brought home some Shmulka Bernstein’s Salami, Corned Beef sandwiches or “Specials“ which were extra fat hot dogs. What a treat!
If you are a Jewish Native New Yorker of a certain age, it will rekindle your beloved memories of a time gone by… If you are visiting New York for the first time, and/or are of any ethnicity or any age, it is an interesting piece of history. And if you are too young to remember when Pastrami on Rye with Knish on the side was King, you will go, learn, laugh and enjoy.
You start out by dressing up as your favorite Jewish food. This sets the tone. There is another section at the exhibit where you can “Place your Order”.
It is a small exhibit and won't take long to see. It begins with the story of the wave of Eastern European immigrant Jews who came to this country from 1880-1920. Doors were closed to them. They remade their life in America doing what they knew best and in the process they touched the fabric of New York and American life. It was a better life than the life in the old country! One of the things they did was bring recipes from Eastern Europe which included Delicatessen.
At the exhibition I learned, “Delicatessen” is a German word that loosely translates to “a place to find delicious things to eat”. Sounds like the perfect name.
The exhibition showed their exodus from Hester street with unsanitary crowded living conditions to Brownsville Brooklyn where Jews began moving at the rate of 1000 a day. They even talked about Pitkin Avenue where back in the day sour pickles were sold from a barrel. “A nickel for a schtickle of pickle” my dad used to say. It told of a time when delis were a dime a dozen in New York City. Now, there are hardly any left.
The exhibit discussed sending a “Salami to your Boys in the Army” during WWII.
Back then, no one heard of falafel, shakshuka or bourekas. There was no competition for Kosher Deli. If you were kosher, there was an extremely limited selection of restaurants where you could be sure the standard of “kashrut” was maintained.
Also told was the story of push carts (nowadays called food carts) and sometimes brick and mortar eateries that became New York institutions like Second Avenue Deli, Carnegie Deli and Ratners*. It continued to show how the Jewish Deli became a New York Food institution and finally how it all changed. The owner’s kids would become educated and wouldn’t stay in the Deli business. Many would melt into the melting pot of America. In the 50s and 60s many would leave Brooklyn behind and move to the Suburbs, leaving their ethnic enclaves (and often their heritage) behind. This is the American story of so many ethnicities.
It was not about tacos, spanakopita, or pizza. Those were other immigrant stories.
Carnegie Deli . A New York institution was finally closed in 2016
American ways were infiltrating Jewish eating habits. Out with the fatty pastrami sandwich and in with the lean turkey on a salad. Middle Eastern food was making its way into our culture, including falafel, hummus, and pita. In the 70’s and then 80’s many New Yorkers discovered French Onion Soup, Sushi, Kiwis and Korean Salad Bars. Then later Nouvelle and Fusion cuisine appeared on the scene.
Delicatessen was becoming more and more unfashionable and it was viewed as unhealthy. In our heart we yearn for a good corned beef sandwich, but now we eat it once in a “blue moon”. On a daily basis we eat salmon and salad. We don't want cholesterol. We eat vegan, tofu and rice bowls, quinoa and kale. We don't wanna be fat! Ironically, I think my Aunt Rachel's Vegetarian “Mock Chopped Liver” would be having a moment now.
In this exhibition you will see the roots of some New York eating institutions, learn about Jewish People living crowded in one room on the lower East side and learn about Lindy’s in its heyday, or Ratners when the Jewish New York of my youth was at its Zenith.
At the end of the show there is an area to see cute Jewish deli related movie clips. How did they get the name for the exhibit? You will find out when you see the R-rated movie Clíp from “When Harry Met Sally” where Meg Ryan created a “scene“ at Katz’s Deli*. Have fun!
After your visit, top it off with a nosh, or a sit-down dinner from your favorite Jewish deli, just be sure to wash it down with Dr Brown's Cream soda.
A plastic replica of a perfect plate of Jewish deli photographed at the exhibit.
Bon Appetit
“‘I’ll Have What She’s Having’: The Jewish Deli” is on view at the New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, beginning Friday, Nov. 11, 2022 through Sunday, April 2, 2023.
All photos were taken at the exhibit by Joan Penn.
*These establishments are not kosher.
