Pit Beef

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   "Pit beef" is not in Dare and not in John F. Mariani's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF
AMERICAN FOOD AND DRINK (1999).
   Last post before ten hours of parking tickets. I feel sick right now.


(PROQUEEST HISTORICAL NEWSPAPERS)
      THE NATION
    New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York, N.Y.: May 19, 1940.
                 p. 68 (1 page):
   Impressive were the statistics of the feast, held just outside the
stadium's wall after the oath-taking was over.  In a great pit beeves were roasted so
the crowd could watch.
(At LSU, in Baton Rouge--ed.)

      MARYLAND DINING
       Kristin Eddy.       The Washington Post  (1974-Current file).
Washington, D.C.: Jan 14, 1988.      p. MD12 (1 page):
   _The Canopy_, 9319 Baltimore National Pike,...  Barbecue sandwiches are
the specialty of the house: shredded open pit beef or chicken, or slices of
barbecue beef cooked to order.


      Baltimore
       By MELINDA HENNEBERGER.       New York Times  (1857-Current file).
  New York, N.Y.: Jul 9, 1995.                   p. XX10 (1 page):
   Stop in Federal Hill for a pit beef sandwich, a local version of barbecue,
(Illegible word.  "Cooked"?--ed.) and served by street vendors,...


      How to Say Barbecue in Baltimore
       STEVEN RAICHLEN.  New York Times  (1857-Current file).       New York,
N.Y.: Jun 28, 2000.    p. F5 (1 page):
   I SPENT the first 18 years of my life in Baltimore, and not once did I eat
pit beef.  I am not particularly proud of this fact, but it does reflect the
parochialism of the region's food.  I grew up in the suburb of Pikesville,
Md., and the foods of my childhood embraced the four C's of Baltimore gastronomy:
crab, corned beef, coddies (leaden cakes of catfish and potatoes) and
chocolate tops (cookies crowned with a rosette of chocolate icing).
   Pit beef came from a working-class neighborhood on the east side of town,
whcih for me might as well have been another planet.
   Pit beef is Baltimore's version of barbecue beef grilled crusty on the
outside, rare and juicy inside and heaped high on a sandwich.  Several things
make it distinctive in the realm of American barbecue.
   For starters, pit beef is grilled, not smoked, so it lacks the heavy
hickory or mesquite flavor characteristic of Texas- or Kansas-city-style barbecue.
it is also ideally served rare, which would be unthinkable for a Texas-style
brisket.  Baltimore pit bosses use top round, not brisket, and to make this
flavorful but tough cut of beef tender, they shave it paper-thin on a meat
slicer.
   Then there's the bread, the proper way to serve pit beef is on a kaiser
roll or, more distinctively, on rye bread.  The caraway seeds in the rye reflect
the Eastern European ancestry of many Baltimoreans in this part of town and
add an aromatic, earthy flavor to the beef.
   Finally, there is the sauce.  No ketchup, brown sugar and liquid smoke, as
you would find in Kansas City.  No Texas-style chili hellfire or piquant
vinegar sauces in the style of North Carolina.  The proper condiment for baltimore
pit beef is horseradish sauce--as much as you can bear without crying.  And
speaking or crying, you need slices of crisp, pungent white onion to make the
sandwich complete.
   The center of Baltimore pit beef is an industrial thoroughfare called
Pulaski Highway, also known as Route 40.  As you drive east out of the city, you
pass truck stops, tractor dealerships and inexpensive motels.  Nestled among
them are the simple roadside eateries that purvey pit beef.


(ANCESTRY)
   22 August 1958, NEWS (Frederick, Maryland), pg.7?, col. 7:
   Pit Beef barbecue under the supervision of Walter A. Simpson.