The Comforting Sandwich Anthony Bourdain Always Missed While Traveling

Homesickness comes in so many forms, like the longing to sleep in your own bed, to be within arm's reach of family and friends, and, yes, to seek out the favorite comfort foods from your home turf. Anthony Bourdain, famous for his travels documenting the lives of people across the globe from a culinary perspective, sometimes traveled around 250 days a year, before his death in 2018. So, it's no wonder that when arriving back home to New York City he immediately sought out one of his favorite foods: a good old pastrami sandwich.

In 2017, he told Variety about his go-to order from the Pastrami Queen deli. He said that the deli served up "a really good pastrami sandwich — if not the best, among the very best. Just a good, nice mix of fat and lean. It's the real deal, served warm on fresh, soft rye bread with the right kind of mustard. Good pickles. And they deliver — very happy with that. I get a cream soda. It's a quintessential New York meal for me."

Just like the Italian beef is associated with Chicago, a pastrami sandwich is one of those timeless foods that's intertwined in the Big Apple's food scene. I've been to New York several times, and I've yet to sample a classic pastrami sandwich, but even as an outsider I know that New Yorkers are proud of it. I feel like I already practically know what to expect from Katz's Deli thanks to Meg Ryan's famous scene in "When Harry Met Sally" (and other popular culture references). So, Bourdain's desire to crush some pastrami when he returned home isn't surprising at all. 

One of the best parts about these sandwiches is how no-frills they are, since the slow-cooked meat, which you can pick fatty or lean slices of, remains the star of the show. Add some strong mustard (other condiments need not apply), slap that freshly-carved meat on rye bread, and congratulations, you're practically a New Yorker, just like Bourdain was.