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The word delicatessen designates a type of food store. The word is of German origin, meaning "delicacies," and has different meanings in different countries. A North American delicatessen is often referred to, informally or affectionately, as a deli. In some regions of Australia, the same words are used to mean a general store or convenience store.
U.S. delicatessen
The delicatessen, as found in the cities of the United States (and occasionally Canada), emphasizes take-out food. It is a boon to the contemporary city dweller with a distaste for fast food from a chain store but without time for a sit-down or home-cooked meal. It is meant to be a one-stop in-and-out dining venue.
A delicatessen is something between a fast-food restaurant and a grocery store. It offers a much wider and fresher menu than chain fast food restaurants, rarely employing fry machines and typically making sandwiches to order.
A grocery store or supermarket may make its own deli food, or even have a deli on site. Like a market, a delicatessen may also offer a selection of shelved food, often of the type that is not likely to be kept for more than a day. Produce, when present, is limited in quantity, and often freshness.
Delicatessens vary greatly in size, but are typically not as large as grocery stores. In areas with high rents for retail space, delicatessens are often quite small.
Delicatessens can come from a variety of cultural traditions. Most numerous in the United States is the Jewish delicatessen, either specifically kosher, or merely "kosher style." There are also Italian delicatessens and German style delicatessens, usually referred to as a "European Delicatessen."
Product base
Most delicatessen have a solid sandwich menu, most of which are made to order behind the counter. Most have a wide selection of sandwiches, ranging from club to hero, hot to cold, from sandwiches to wraps. The pastrami sandwich is sometimes considered the ultimate criterion of quality in a delicatessen.Delicatessens often sell their meats by weight, as cold cuts, and prepare party trays.
In addition to made-to-order sandwiches, nearly all delicatessens offer made-to-order green salads. Equally essential is a selection of pre-made—often in house—pasta, potato, chicken, tuna, shrimp, or other variety of "wet" salads, displayed underneath the counter and bought by weight or on a sandwich. Pre-cooked chicken, shrimp, or eggplant products, possibly fried or parmigiana style are found frequently, though they do not constitute the mainstay of a delicatessen.
In order to provide an opportunity for a complete meal, delicatessens also offer a wide variety of beverages, usually pre-packaged soft drinks, coffee, teas, milk, etc. Chips and similar products are available in some variety, though they rarely rival the selection of small package cookies and snack foods; some pre-packaged, others store-made and cellophane wrapped.
Alongside these primarily lunch and dinner products, a delicatessen might also offer a number of additional items geared toward the breakfast eater, including baked goods (breakfast pastries, bagels, toast), yogurt, and warm, egg "breakfast sandwiches". Newspapers and small food items such as candy and mints are also usually available for purchase.
Urban affiliation
The North American delicatessen is skewed towards cities, particularly older cities that are less car-oriented, thus favoring walk-in traffic. The residents of New York City have a particularly close connection to their delis, and many delicatessens outside of New York call themselves "New York Delicatessen," to evoke the emotional appeal of the traditional New York City delicatessen.Delikatessen in Europe
In Germany, Switzerland and Austria, "Delikatessen" (as it is spelled) has a rather different meaning. The traditional German Delikatessenläden ("stores for delicacies") sold mostly top-quality foodstuffs for cooking, not the take-out food characteristic of North American delicatessens. Such stores have mostly disappeared today, while the need for specialty stores has shifted to foreign specialties, like "Asia shops" and so on.
Canadian usage
In Canada, both uses of the term are found. First-generation immigrants from Europe often use the term in a manner consistent with its original German meaning. As well, even Jewish delicatessens (as in Montreal, for example) can be either strictly take-out, or mixed take-out and sit-down restaurants.
Australian usage
In South Australia and Western Australia delicatessens (delis) sell a variety of food including sandwiches. The traditional deli is a place where people pick up a newspaper and buy milk. Another form of deli is the contintental deli, so named for its stocking of European foods (salamis, cheeses, italian hams etc.). In recent years there has been a trend for delis to sell more snack foods and hot foods (pies, pasties and sausage rolls). Delis also sell a variety of small cakes. Most delis have a place where patrons can sit down to consume food. Larger delis often stock items normally found in a general store (canned goods, toiletries, and cleaning goods, to name a few).
Origin of the word
Reference works state that the word delicatessen comes from German Delikatessen, and that this German word is the plural of Delikatesse, which in turn comes from French and means "delicate things (to eat)". The word delicate is recorded in Latin as delicatus, with the meaning "giving pleasure, delightful".
An alternative popular etymology supposes that the -essen part of the word is in fact the German word essen (= English: to eat, German: das Essen = English: the food). This would mean that the word is a portmanteau of the German words "delikates" (delicate, nominative case) and "Essen". The Germans may have seen the "esse" on the end of the French "delicatesse" and corrected it to "essen" - the German infinitive meaning "to eat", or, regarded as a gerund, meaning "eating" - refined eating.
List of famous delicatessens
- Katz's Deli, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan
- Schwartz's, a landmark smoked meat restaurant in Montréal
- 2nd Avenue Deli, a deli in Manhattan's East Village
- Canter's, a delicatessen-restaurant in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles
- Dallmayr, a store for delicacies in Munich, Germany
See also
"Delicatessen"