The city where this mouth-watering delicacy rules isn’t even worth debating. Just travel across the country and you’ll find a large number of delicatessens hawking “Montreal-style smoked meat.� As is the case with its cousin, Montreal Steak Spice, the quality of the product has given the city bragging rights to the stuff. Montreal is the mecca of smoked meat…. meat in general, if you include the stellar Moishe’s.

As to which establishment serves smoked meat up best, local columnist, author and chronicler of “nosherai,� Bill Brownstein, has written an impressive argument in favour of our city’s most renowned deli. ‘Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen: The Story’ is a look at the Main’s most celebrated location, which has been dishing out hot, spicy, tantalizing smoked meat for over 78 years. While few readers are unfamiliar with the place, most are unaware of its history and that its unrivaled recipe for success has seen its owners taking in an astonishing “$12 - $15 million� in profits annually, in Brownstein’s estimation.

Founded by Reuben Schwartz in 1928, opening on New Year’s Eve right before the Great Depression, Schwartz’s has always offered a limited lineup, eschewing dessert for a simple main menu filled with deli meats, steak, fries, no alcohol, no frills, service that focuses on efficiency rather than polite banter, and lineups that have grateful, famished diners all too happy to share tables with total strangers. Eating at Schwartz’s is a total experience, without peer anyplace else.

The entrepreneur took his recipe from Romanian Jewish cuisine, imported by the wave of immigrants that arrived on these shores in the early part of the 20th century. We learn from the book that roughly 1,000 pounds of brisket are brought in weekly from Alberta, treated with a secret blend of herbs and spices, marinated for 10-14 days in barrels to tenderize it and then immersed for a day in Reuben Schwartz’s original smoker. Pastrami is the American version of smoked meat and is a huge hit in the U.S., as well, especially in New York City. But it ain’t smoked meat.

Brownstein gives us a peek at the staff who keep the meat barrels turning, regales us with the tales that have become part of Montreal legend, and looks at some of the other great local establishments that have thrived on smoked meat sales, such as Lester’s, Ben’s, Snowdon Deli and Schwartz’s neighbour across the street, The Main.

Ben’s, he points out, was opened in 1908 by Ben Kravitz, but became more of a general restaurant-deli than an iconic smoked meat palace. It was shut down by an

employee labour revolt last year.

It’s something Brownstein refers to as “the shmutz factor� that is apparently behind Schwartz’s success. Shmutz is “dirt� in Yiddish, but before you call the health inspectors in, you learn it’s a compliment. David Chalk, a Montreal barrister who has been going to Schwartz’s for over 33 years, explained that “it’s the buildup of fat and spices and God knows what, in the smokehouse here that makes the difference.� Like a fine, aged wine, it’s a no-lose proposition… “almost 80 years of shmutz will do the trick every time,� Chalk concluded.

Some feel that Schwartz’s isn’t what it once was, that the legendary meat has seen better days and that newer eateries like Smoked Meat Pete on the West Island serve up far better fare today.

Where else can one grab several hours of toe-tapping live music from bands like Blues Train Deluxe, in an equally bohemian setting, while wolfing down a terrific smoked meat and a beer, too? The thing is, Schwartz’s has never changed with the times, isn’t about to, and its supporters wouldn’t have it any other way.

If you seek an enjoyable read about municipal and culinary history that examines a true Montreal delicacy so thoroughly you’ll be salivating as you turn the pages, try Brownstein’s book. You may even want to place it between two slices of rye bread and use the mustard quite liberally, though it would be far more satisfying to make the trip to the Main for the real item.

An experience awaits you.





• ‘Schwartz’s Hebrew Delicatessen: The Story’ by Bill Brownstein is published by Vehicule Press and is available at most

bookstores.