Not that anyone could really tell that the ownership of Schwartz's even changed. But Zbriger wouldn't let it be known he was owner of the deli, not wanting to be associated with a "pedestrian eatery", notes Eiran Harris.Ī photo posted by Matt Camara on at 9:07am PDT To put it plainly, Reuben wasted his money, which put his deli at serious risk.īut despite Rueben's poor business sense, his deli did enjoy some success thanks to "the secret recipe from smoking meats which he brought from Romania." So while Reuben proved not to be the best businessman, his business was appealing to the public, and a certain buyer: Maurice Zbriger.Ī talented musician of Russian descent, Zbriger took the deli off Reuben's hands in 1931, after the original owner was nearly bankrupt. Aside from being a misogynist and exploiter of younger workers, Reuben frequently hired sex workers and gambled.ĭuring the economic depression experienced in North America during the 1930s, only a few years after Schwartz's opened, Reuben's illicit activities weren't exactly the smartest business decisions. Not exactly the most well-liked guy, Reuben was widely known to have more than a few flaws and vices. Opening its doors on December 31st, 1927, Schwartz's defined itself as a kosher delicatessen store that used Romanian smoking techniques. Rueben Schwartz was the original founder of Shwartz's, using his own namesake to title the now-infamous deli. After more than thirty years, a sense of pride would be instilled into the city's style of smoked meat, a cognitive shift that heralded the success of Montreal's most famous deli, Schwartz's. To seem superior, many deli's claimed to use NYC-style methods, or actually stock products of the American city.īut the negative connotation linked to Montreal smoked meat would disappear by the 1930s. This was more of an extension of the inferiority complex experienced by Jewish communities in Canada rather than a bias backed by an real fact or flavour. Laurent functioning as the major commercial artery in Montreal's original Jewish neighbourhood.įor a while, Montreal-made smoked meat was actually regarded as inferior in comparison to its New York City counterpart. More than a few were on Saint Laurent (or nearby), with St. Sanft Kosher Meat" was located on 560 Craig street (now Saint Antoine) and claimed to be a "manufacturer of salami, corned beed, and smoked meat."īy the early 1900s, several other kosher delis, all boasting smoked meat, popped up in Montreal. Harris claims Arron Sanft was the first to introduce smoked meat to the Montreal public, as evidenced by a 1894 advertisement in Canada's first Jewish calendar. While this origin of smoked meat can't quite be confirmed, many experts agree that the recipe is of Jewish-Romanian descent. Smoked meat itself is generally regarded as a Romanian creation, with invading Turkish armies originally introducing the recipe to Jewish communities in Romania, according to Eiran Harris, Archivist Emeritus of the Jewish Public Library in Montreal. In fact, by the time Schwartz's opened in 1928, smoked meat was already a popular and well-established culinary tradition in the city. Or, at the least, the deli perfected the smoked meat recipe far before any other delicatessen.īut how much about the many stories surrounding Schwartz's is fact and what is fiction?ĭelving into Montreal's smoked meat history, we'll try to answer exactly that, in our feature on the real story behind Schwartz's Deli.Ī Brief History On Smoked Meat In MontrealĬontrary to what many might think, Schwartz's was definitely not the institution to introduce smoked meat to Montreal. Some claim Schwartz's was the very first to smoked meat deli in all of Montreal. Another tale recounts how the original founder were two widows, with others claiming the deli's ownership was all based on one fated poker game.Įven the recipe for Schwartz's famed smoked meat has entered the realm of mythology. One myth claims the deli was founded by a Russian composer who tacked on the Jewish-sounding name "Schwartz's" to add legitimacy to the establishment. Quite literally, in fact, as several fantastical stories exist regarding the famed smoked meat purveyor's origins. Not simply a culinary institution, Schwartz’s Deli has been regarded as something of a legendary icon of Montreal.
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