Corned beef on rye
Photo: jeffreyw · CC BY 2.0

History

Attman's Delicatessen on the Corned Beef Row of Lombard Street has anchored Baltimore's Jewish-deli tradition since 1915, when Harry Attman opened the storefront in the East Baltimore Jewish quarter. The thick-cut corned beef on rye became the city's deli signature. Today Attman's remains the canonical operator alongside Lenny's in Pikesville; The General Muir in Atlanta and Eli's in Manhattan trace their lineage to the same Eastern European Jewish-American tradition. The Maryland take adds a heavy schmear of horseradish-mustard.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Mustard

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal PT7DDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • For the corned beef cure (7 days ahead): 2kg beef brisket flat-cut
  • 200g kosher salt
  • 100g brown sugar
  • 30g pink curing salt (Prague Powder #1)
  • 2 tbsp pickling spice
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • 2L water
  • For poaching: 1 onion halved, 1 carrot, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
  • 1 fresh loaf Jewish rye bread (with caraway seeds), sliced thick
  • Brown deli mustard (Gulden's preferred)
  • Half-sour pickles to serve
  • Coleslaw on the side, optional

Method

  1. Make the brine: combine water, kosher salt, brown sugar, pink curing salt, pickling spice and garlic in a pot. Bring to a simmer until everything dissolves. Cool completely.
  2. Place the brisket in a deep glass or plastic container. Cover with the cooled brine. Weight down with a plate to keep submerged. Refrigerate 7 days, flipping every other day.
  3. Lift the brisket out and rinse under cold water for 10 minutes to remove excess salt.
  4. Place in a deep pot with the onion, carrot, bay leaves and peppercorns. Cover with cold water by 5cm.
  5. Bring to a low simmer; never boil. Simmer covered 3 to 4 hours until a knife slides easily into the centre.
  6. Lift out, rest 30 minutes wrapped loosely in foil.
  7. Slice across the grain into 3mm thin slices using a sharp slicing knife.
  8. Stack the slices thickly (around 200g per sandwich) on a slice of rye, spread the second slice with brown mustard, close the sandwich.
  9. Slice on the diagonal, serve with half-sour pickles on the side.

Tip from the editors. Pink curing salt is non-negotiable: it gives the pink colour and prevents botulism during the long cure. Slice the corned beef across the grain.

Where to eat corned beef on rye

Corned beef on rye in Baltimore

Attman's Delicatessen ★ 4.4

$ New AmericanDowntown

Attman's on Corned Beef Row piles a hand-cut corned beef sandwich high for not much, a cash-friendly lunch counter that has fed downtown since 1915.

TryCorned beef sandwich

TipA sandwich and a knish make a filling, cheap lunch; eat it in the Kibbitz Room out back.

Directions

Dooby's ★ 4.1

$$ $10 to $18BrunchAll-day cafe brunchMount Vernon

Dooby's in Mount Vernon runs an all-day cafe brunch of breakfast sandwiches and Korean-leaning plates, a reliable mid-morning stop on Charles Street.

OrderThe breakfast sandwich with a cup of drip.

TipThe breakfast sandwich is the daytime draw; the kitchen shifts to a Korean dinner menu by night.

Directions

Faidley's Seafood ★ 4.7

$ Street foodDowntown

Faidley's stand inside Lexington Market serves the city's benchmark crab cake since 1886, almost all jumbo lump, eaten standing at a counter off brown paper.

TryJumbo lump crab cake

TipOrder the all-lump grade and eat it at the stand-up rail; it also fries a classic lake trout.

Directions

Cross Street Market ★ 4.1

$ MarketFederal Hill

Cross Street Market is Federal Hill's neighbourhood public market, renovated into a modern hall of oyster bars, taco counters and a central bar at its core.

TipThe central bar and oyster counter make it a destination for happy hour, not just lunch.

Directions

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