Katz's Delicatessen Ashkenazi Menu Items

Katz’s Delicatessen, established in 1888 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, serves a comprehensive array of Ashkenazi Jewish dishes rooted in the culinary traditions of Eastern European Jewish communities from the Pale of Settlement, particularly those from present-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine. The menu reflects the full spectrum of Ashkenazi gastronomy, from delicatessen meats to holiday specialties and everyday comfort foods. Central to the deli’s identity are its hand-carved pastrami and corned beef, both prepared through a multi-day process of wet-curing, spice-rubbing, and slow-smoking or steaming, techniques that emerged from the Jewish delicatessen culture that flourished in New York City during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The menu’s soup and appetizer offerings include matzo ball soup, featuring light or dense dumplings made from matzo meal, eggs, and schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), served in a golden chicken broth. Knishes appear in both square and round forms, filled with seasoned mashed potatoes, kasha (buckwheat groats), or ground meat, wrapped in a thin dough and baked until golden. Gefilte fish, typically made from ground whitefish, pike, and carp mixed with matzo meal and seasonings, is poached in fish stock and served cold with horseradish (chrain). Chopped liver, a spread of chicken or beef liver hard-boiled eggs, and schmaltz, represents a classic Ashkenazi appetizer, often accompanied by rye bread and radishes.

Side dishes and accompaniments include noodle kugel, a sweet or savory baked pudding made from egg noodles, eggs, cottage cheese, and sometimes raisins or cinnamon, and mini latkes, crispy potato pancakes fried in oil and traditionally associated with Hanukkah. Kishka, also known as stuffed derma, consists of beef intestine casing filled with a mixture of matzo meal, schmaltz, and spices, then simmered and served with gravy. The pickle bar offers sour and half-sour kosher dill pickles, pickled tomatoes, and sauerkraut, all fermented in brine, reflecting the Ashkenazi tradition of lacto-fermented vegetables that preserved produce through Eastern European winters.

Fish and dairy options include nova lox, cold-smoked salmon sliced thin and served on a bagel with cream cheese, capers, and red onion, and whitefish salad, a spread made from smoked whitefish mixed with mayonnaise and seasonings. Desserts feature honey cake (lekach), a dense, spiced cake sweetened with honey and often flavored with coffee, cinnamon, and nuts, traditionally served during Rosh Hashanah. Many menu items are naturally dairy-free or can be adapted, as Ashkenazi dietary laws separate meat and dairy; the pastrami, corned beef, chopped liver, and kishka are kosher-style (not necessarily certified kosher) and contain no dairy, while the noodle kugel and nova lox with cream cheese are dairy-based. The menu does not inherently accommodate vegan, halal, or kosher certification requirements, though some items like pickles and certain soups may be vegan-friendly. Katz’s Delicatessen functions as a living museum of Ashkenazi culinary heritage, preserving recipes and preparation methods that originated in the shtetls and urban Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and evolved through the immigrant experience in the United States.