On Rye

I just read the most amazing statistic ever. This one exceeds anything found in sports, finance, politics, history, warfare, peacetime, anything, and of course I read it in an obituary, so it must be true, right? But how?

Mimi Sheraton, Innovative New York Times Food Critic Dies at 97. Her life writing about food went on for six decades, took her to 49 countries and 21,170 restaurant meals. She was a prolific food critic for numerous publications. She wrote tour guides based on food and of course cookbooks.

But you still haven't heard of the most amazing statistic I've ever read about. Before writing about delicatessen food she is said to have "collected 104 corned beef and pastrami samples in one day to evaluate the meat and sandwich-building techniques." And since the advance obit was written by the redoubtable Robert D. McFadden I have to believe it. But how did she do this?

Okay, let's try and analyze. A pastrami and corned beef sample from one place counts as two samples. That implies that samples from 52 establishments were obtained. Still strains belief even if you consider five boroughs and maybe Nassau and Westchester Counties.

Could 52 places be found in one day selling pastrami and corned beef sandwiches? What year was this? Sometime in the '70s? 

Okay, seven counties could contain 52 places selling a pastrami and corned beef sandwich, but how many people were sent on this mission? No doubt there would be many willing staff members who would volunteer to go on extended lunch and dinner hours to order pastrami and corned beef sandwiches, but this sounds like a well-planned, synchronized military operation.

Assuming enough people volunteer, and the budget allows for the expense for not only buying the sandwiches, but in traveling all over he place to obtain them, who gets to pass judgment on the sandwiches?

Someone or many, can visually pass judgment on the Jenga block construction of 104 sandwiches no doubt made with Levy's Jewish rye bread, or Fink's rye bread, but who gets to taste the sandwiches and render an opinion that can be put in print? The mind boggles.

One person taking a bite out of 104 sandwiches in a single day and taking notes must be related to Joey Chestnut, the July 4th Nathan's hot dog eating champion of the past decades. Paul Newman ate all those eggs in one sitting (50) to win a bet in the movie Cool Hand Luke while in a chain gang prison, but that's Hollywood. 

To look at a photo of Ms. Sheraton she doesn't strike you as someone who could do a one day sampling of 104 deli sandwiches, but she did come from a non-Kosher Brooklyn Jewish household, so nothing is impossible.

At this point my only wish is that someone would enlist me to update the study. I can be reached.

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