Between the Bread

Reading David Kessler's The End of Overeating, as I am now, makes me never want to eat food like KFC's Double Down again (though I probably will). Not only are our brains wired to want more sugar, fat, and salt (particularly in combination), but the food industry designs these foods to make them more addictive and literally melt in your mouth so they go down faster.

Take something as innocent as coleslaw: coating cabbage in a high-fat dressing means you don't have to chew it as much, so you get even more calories, more quickly. Many of the indulgent foods I love, sandwiches included, are neither healthy, natural, nor sustainable. This week the New York Times considers this conundrum via the Jewish deli and how it's changing with the times.

The story starts at Saul's Deli in Berkeley, where, as luck would have it, I'm going this weekend.The owners serve cage-free eggs and grass-fed beef and recently took salami off the menu because the deli staple wasn't responsible or sustainable. Before you roll your eyes and say "Oh, Berkeley!" hear me out. Here's more.

• A Brooklyn deli introduces pastrami's Canadian cousin — New York Magazine
• Paying tribute to the precious po-boy in New Orleans — The Atlantic
• The great sandwich debate: rectangular or diagonal slices? — NPR
• Sup on a chipotle flank steak torta — Serious Eats
• Making meals that make good sandwiches later — Unbreaded
• I already miss Thanksgiving leftover sandwiches — Serious Sandwiches
• Roast beef and cheddar sandwich satay! — Insanewiches

Though the Reuben is delicious, pastrami is Katz's claim to fame — with good reason. I've always been a lukewarm pastrami fan, finding it tasty but not quite getting all the fuss. Then I picked up a slice from the plate the counterman gives you to sample while waiting for your sandwich, squares of glistening meat laid out like a deck of cards. It was mind-blowingly delicious: salty, bacony, and melt-in-your-mouth tender. See what all the fuss is about.