Antedating of "Pastrami"

[Laurence Horn]

On Jan 25, 2012, at 5:12 PM, victor steinbok wrote:

> I guess I waited too long with my 1907 post. But I have some other things
> to say on the subject--when done, I'll post it. Never hurts to have another
> early citation.
> 
> Just one word, for now: basturma. More on the subject later.
> 
> VS-)

Funny you should mention it.  I was going to say something earlier about the link between basturma (in one of several variant spellings I've seen), which I've been served in Turkish restaurants under the name of  pastIrmI (or something like that, with those Turkish back /i/s), whither it may have been snuck in by ripping off Armenians, and pastrami, since they both involve dried spiced salted meat.  I vaguely recall posting about the connection here decades ago after encountering pastIrmI, and probably being informed by Barry Popik what the real story is.  And now, I see others are making the connection in various ways, e.g. http://www.russelnod.com/2010/10/24/bastruma-the-intrepid-traveller-explores-the-roots-of-pastrami/ (apparently inventing a new, nonce spelling for the title of the piece, but not in the text, where it does indeed appear as "basturma"). Anyway, I await VS's post eagerly.

LH
> 
> On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 11:27 AM, Jesse Sheidlower <jester at panix.com> wrote:
> 
>> 
>> On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 03:37:12AM +0000, Shapiro, Fred wrote:
>>> pastrami (OED 1914)
>>> 
>>> 1909 _Boston Advocate_ 9 Apr. 6 (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
>>> (adv't) Margolies Kosher Worst Mfg. Co. ... Worst, Corned Beef,
>>> Pastrami and Tongues.
>> 
>> Oh yeah?
>> 
>> 1899 _Jewish South_ 12 May 1 (advt.) S. Spector... Fresh beef and smoked
>> meats... Smoked beef, smoked tongues, smoked shoulders, salami,
>> pastrami, rendered beef fat, &c.
>> 
>> 
>> http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn94051168/1899-05-12/ed-1/seq-1/;words=Pastrami?date1=1836&rows=20&searchType=basic&state=&date2=1922&proxtext=pastrami&y=8&x=12&dateFilterType=yearRange&index=0
>> 
>> Jesse Sheidlower
>> OED
>> 
> 
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