Food - News
Why Does Roast Beef Taste Different From The Deli?
By CHASE SHUSTACK
No matter how much you try, and no matter what ingredients you use, homemade deli-style roast beef is always slightly off. While The Daily Meal thinks it’s the fact that delis have professional chefs with the proper know-how preparing it, Melissa Clark of The New York Times says it all comes down to the meat.
When Clark tried to recreate authentic deli-style roast beef at home, she found using beef from leftover roasts to be a mistake. Clark found that a hot slice of beef from the oven doesn’t work in a cold roast beef sandwich because when the meat cools, the fat congeals into thick globs and ruins the sandwich.
Most delis use cheap, lean cuts of meat — such as rump roast or eye-round — that can be best served cold. Fleisher's butcher shop, however, suggests a more expensive — but much more tender — top loin roast, that Clark says makes for an excellent mineral-tasting and tender sandwich that is also delicious when served hot.