Pit beef
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Pit beef is a dish of roast beef prepared over a charcoal fire, commonly using top round cuts of beef. The cooked roast is sliced thinly and often served on a Kaiser roll, and may be topped with horseradish or tiger sauce (horseradish and mayonnaise) and sliced raw onion. Unlike barbecue, the meat is cooked quickly at high temperatures, served rare, and has a light smoke flavor. Pit beef historically was sold at roadside stands.
It gained a national reputation from the HBO show, The Wire, which is set in Baltimore.[1]
The preparation is a local specialty in the area around Baltimore, Maryland. The origin of the specific name "pit beef" dates to the 1970s on Baltimore's east side, along Pulaski Highway, and became popular in the 1980s.[2][3][4][5]
Although associated with the working-class neighborhoods around Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, pit beef owes much to the German and Jewish food cultures of Baltimore. The Kaiser roll was popularized by the city's large German immigrant population and tiger sauce was first produced by Tulkoff Foods, a kosher horseradish manufacturer. Tiger sauce is named after the founder's son, Sol Tulkoff's 802nd Tank Destroyer Battalion during World War II.[6]
Well-known vendors of pit beef sandwiches include Chaps Pit Beef,[7] though it has been known to be available in local Baltimore hardware stores.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Sandwich of the Week: This pit beef sandwich from Baltimore". For The Win. 2016-07-07. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
- ^ Addison, Bill (January 17, 2017). "Pit Beef: Baltimore's Answer to Barbecue". Eater. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ Gorelick, Richard (July 28, 2015). "Hunting down the history of how pit beef became a symbol of Baltimore". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
- ^ Shahin, Jim (June 18, 2013). "Smoke Signals: Baltimore pit beef, weird and wonderful". Washington Post. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ Raichlin, Steven (2000). "How to Say Barbecue in Baltimore". New York Times. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
- ^ "Tulkoff Foods Tiger Horseradish Sauce". Tulkoff Food. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
- ^ "Chaps Pit Beef will move from original Baltimore Route 40 roadside stand to a larger space — next door". Baltimore Sun. 2023-09-08. Retrieved 2024-10-20.