Corned beef is cross-ethnic star 

Monday, March 3, 2008 
BY ROBERT BIESELIN
STAFF WRITER, The Record 

As regaled as corned beef is this time of year, you'd never expect such an embrace were you to witness the less than auspicious process that produces that pinkish beef.

DON SMITH / THE RECORD Manager Harvey Melinkoff of Harold's II Kosher Superette, a kosher deli in Paramus, holds up the finished product.

It goes something like this:

Take a beef brisket, chuck it into a tepid bath of seasoned saltwater, and forget about it. For a week, maybe two or three. Then, as if you haven't already treated it badly enough, exhume the beastly hunk of meat from the brackish depths and give it a thorough boiling. Once cooked - and tinted to a pinkish hue somewhere between a sunset and a chemical fire - slice it, serve it up with sides of your choosing and watch the response.

For some inexplicable reason, the dish, despite this harsh treatment, is welcomed with open arms (and mouths) by folks in North Jersey. Chalk up the appeal to tradition.

"Our most popular sandwiches here are corned beef and pastrami," said Glen Shorr, co-owner of Harold's Kosher Superette, a kosher deli in Paramus. "There's just something about a good corned beef sandwich. It's something that's been passed down for generations. With the rye bread, the mustard - the way it's supposed to be served - people just love it."

Lathered with mustard and piled high on marbled rye or paired with sauerkraut, Swiss and Thousand Island dressing, corned beef is a year-round mainstay at self-respecting kosher delis like Harold's. Still, despite its ties to Jewish cooking, with St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, the brutalized beef is likely more popular this time of year thanks to its association, or rather mis-association, with Ireland.

In reality, according to Thomas O'Reilly, the so-called Irish tradition owes its popularity to the same generations of Jewish New Yorkers that Shorr lauds for passing down the heritage of corned beef on rye.

"The funny thing about corned beef as we sell it over here is that you wouldn't really find it in Ireland ... it was the Irish immigrants here in New York that were next to the Jewish neighborhoods who first adopted corned beef," said O'Reilly, owner of Tommy Fox's Public House in Bergenfield, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month. "Corned beef and cabbage has come to mean St. Patrick's Day over here, but it's definitely an Irish-American dish more than an Irish dish."

Traditional methods

For a more authentic dabble in Irish culinary tradition, O'Reilly suggests a lamb stew or a boiled bacon and cabbage dish like the one he pairs with live Celtic bands on Sunday afternoons in March. At the end of the day though, his Irish-minded customers don't feel ashamed ordering platters of the pink beef. According to O'Reilly - whose parents emigrated from Ireland - Tommy Fox's moves more than 1,000 pounds of corned beef in the weeks surrounding St. Patrick's Day.

He's not the only one dishing it up in the area, either. As a culinary focal point for the Jewish and Irish, several local purveyors of corned beef even go so far as to make their own, buying the brisket un-brined and pickling it themselves.

It's not a quick process but, as they say, one well worth the time invested.

"Every corned beef is going to taste a little different due to the size of the meat and the brining mixtures," said Shorr. "But the big difference when you make it yourself is that it's going to be fresh. It's not pickled three or four months ago ... it's going to taste fresh like corned beef should."

To get this fresh taste, the folks at Harold's II don't deviate far from the methods that have always been used when brining meat. Besides the use of a pickling machine, which employs little needles to inject the brisket with brining solution, the formula is the same as it's always been.

"After running [the brisket] through the [pickling] machine, we put it into a barrel with the rest of the brine and it takes five to seven days to pickle or corn," Shorr said.

Give it time

For folks without a pickling machine, the duration of time the beef spends in the bucket can likely be longer. With your meat enduring a lengthy soak, it's tempting to get impatient, but it's best to let the process run its course, according to Melissa Fitzgerald, owner of Fitzgerald's Harp 'n Bard in Clifton, which has brined its own beef for the last five years.

"We don't have a brining machine, so we just leave it in the solution for at least a week," she said. "The meat will brine itself ... you just have to be patient."

According to Fitzgerald, whose pub dishes out upward of 1,000 pounds of corned beef during the week surrounding St. Patrick's Day, the time to become hands-on arrives later, just after the meat is boiled.

"One of the most important things to do after you take the boiled meat out of the water is to put cold, wet rags over it and cool it down quickly so the cooking process stops and it's not overcooked," she said.

Still, no matter how it's brined, boiled or served, chances are guests at your St. Patrick's Day celebration - be they Irish, Jewish, both or neither - also will have some curious affinity for the pink beef, even if it's just for one day a year.

"My son's birthday is March 14th, so every year we'll have a corned beef and cabbage party," said John Bruggeman of Wyckoff, who makes 30 corned beefs for the annual party. "It started with just the family and then it took on a life of its own. Now we'll draw around 75 or 80 people."

Bruggeman, who likes to add Guinness to the broth when boiling his beef, can expect another successful party assuming one of his 80 guests isn't Pat Philbin of Moonachie. The International Federation of Competitive Eating competitor, known as Pat from Moonachie, rakes in some of his own massive numbers in relation to corned beef. In 2006, he wolfed down 3¾ pounds of corned beef and cabbage in 10 minutes, good enough to pull in fifth place in the IFCOE-sanctioned bout in Boston.

He, like Shorr and Bruggeman, says there's just something inexplicably good about the dish.

"I'm Irish, so I love corned beef, even though I only eat it about once a year," said Philbin, 41, who works as a courier when he's not participating in competitive eating contests. "If you're eating as much as I did though, you have to remember to drink a lot of water ... it can get stringy and hard to swallow."

Apparently, as with everything else, corned beef is best consumed in moderation.

E-mail: bieselin@northjersey.com

December, 2007 - Santa Claus came to town—the town of Bergenfield, that is. This holiday season, the Bergenfield Special Improvement District sponsored a Free Photo with Santa and Strolling Holiday Music event on Saturday, December 15th.

Santa was delivered by special transportation—the Bergenfield Fire Department—and set up shop on the sidewalk in front of The Bank of America at 35 South Washington Avenue. Parents who brought their children were entitled to a free Polaroid photograph of their child with Santa.

In addition, the BSID distributed gift bags and refreshments while the Salvation Army Brass Ensemble strolled through the district performing holiday music.

Santa’s visit is just one of the local highlights this holiday season, thanks to the efforts of the Bergenfield Special Improvement District (BSID), a public/private partnership between the business community and the Borough of Bergenfield. Adding to the festive spirit are over 90 beautifully decorated wreaths placed on utility poles along the entire length of Washington Avenue from the Teaneck to the Dumont border.

“The success of the district’s improvement efforts year-round is directly related to the volunteer work of SID members, of many of our commercial district friends and associates, and of the people in our local communities,” said SID board member David Cassens of Arista Trophies & Awards. “Also, we have always been able to count on the additional support of the Borough of Bergenfield, the Bergenfield Police Department, the Bergenfield Fire Department and the Bergenfield Boy Scouts Venture Crew. The willingness of so many people to loan valuable time, good ideas and special skills to our holiday events is a clear signal that Bergenfield is a town with an abundance of pride. Everyone wants to see it succeed.”

Cassens’ Arista Trophies, on Portland Avenue, prepared the holiday giveaway bags for Santa day visitors. Board member Tom O'Reilly, of Tommy Fox’s, on South Washington Avenue, organized the refreshments. Bill Tompkins, owner of Peter’s Camera Center, also on South Washington, provided the Polaroid photo services.

Click here for view the gallery of event photos.

The Bergenfield SID was created in 1998 to help improve the local economy and overall commercial climate in the Borough of Bergenfield. Its goals include facade and signage upgrades, parking and streetscape improvements, special events, and marketing and public relations on the district’s behalf. It achieves its goals through an active series of programs and events, many of which have already been instrumental in turning Bergenfield into a commercial destination of choice for many residents of Bergen County and Northern New Jersey.

For further information contact Don Smartt, District Administrator at 201 384-8555 or visit www.BergenfieldSID.org.

Click here to see the March BSID ad on the back page of the Bergenfield Bulletin.

Click here to see the February BSID ad on the back page of the Bergenfield Bulletin.

Click here to see the December BSID ad on the back page of the Bergenfield Bulletin.

Click here to see the November BSID ad on the back page of the Bergenfield Bulletin.

Click here to see the October BSID ad on the back page of the Bergenfield Bulletin.

Visit the Bergenfield Bulletin.

October 2007
Shoppers and strollers took the streets for the Bergenfield's Chamber of Commerce's annual Street Fair. Rides and entertainment were part of the day's activities.

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