pastrami

noun

1. a brisket of beef that has been cured in a mixture of garlic, peppercorns, sugar, coriander seeds, etc., then smoked before cooking.

noun

1. highly seasoned smoked beef, esp prepared from a shoulder cut

n.1940, from Yiddish pastrame, from Rumanian pastrama, probably from Turkish pastrima, variant of basdirma “dried meat,” from root *bas- “to press.” Another possible origin of the Rumanian word [Barnhart] is Modern Greek pastono “I salt,” from classical Greek pastos “sprinkled with salt, salted.” Spelling in English with -mi probably from influence of salami.