Smoked meat sandwich
Photo: Photo by JamesTeterenko · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Smoked meat reached Toronto from Montreal's Eastern European Jewish community in the early 1900s. Toronto's Jewish-deli scene developed through the 1910s on Spadina and shifted to Bathurst as the community moved north. United Bakers Dairy Restaurant on Lawrence (1912) is the city's longest-running deli; Centre Street Deli from Thornhill carries the Montreal-style canon since 1988. The Toronto-style sandwich runs thinner than Montreal's, on lighter rye with a stronger mustard hit.

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Common allergens: Gluten

Make it at home

Yield Serves 2Hands-on 10 minTotal 15 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 300g smoked meat (from a deli or vacuum-packed)
  • 4 slices light rye bread, seeded
  • 2 tablespoons grainy Dijon mustard
  • 1 dill pickle, sliced
  • Black pepper

Method

  1. Steam the smoked meat over simmering water for 8 minutes until heated through and slightly fork-tender. Slice thick across the grain.
  2. Toast the rye bread lightly. Spread two slices generously with grainy mustard.
  3. Pile the warm smoked meat onto the mustard-spread rye, 150g per sandwich.
  4. Grind fresh black pepper over the meat. Close with the other rye slice.
  5. Slice the sandwich diagonally. Serve with a dill pickle on the side.

Tip from the editors. The rye must be light, not dark; Toronto-style favours the seeded lighter rye that Montreal calls plain. Steam, never microwave, the meat.

Where to eat smoked meat sandwich

Smoked meat sandwich in Toronto

Centre Street Deli ★ 4.4

$$ Jewish deliYorkville

Centre Street Deli on Bay Street is the 2024 downtown outpost of the Thornhill original since 1988, Montreal-style smoked meat hand-sliced over light rye.

OrderThe classic smoked meat sandwich on rye with mustard and a pickle.

TipOrder the lean-and-medium mix; pure lean dries out fast. The Thornhill original is at 1136 Centre Street.

Directions

United Bakers Dairy Restaurant ★ 4.3

$$ Jewish deliYorkville

United Bakers at Lawrence Plaza is the city's reference kosher-style dairy restaurant since 1912, no-meat menu with blintzes, smoked fish and split-pea soup.

OrderThe split pea soup with a potato latke and applesauce.

TipKosher-style, not certified kosher. Closed Saturday and most Jewish holidays. The Ladovsky family has run it since 1912.

Directions

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