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Meet the Deli Guy Whose Vegetable Charcuterie Is as Good as His Pastrami
Cleveland’s fermentation enthusiast at Larder tells us why in his new book
In a nearly two-century-old fire station in Cleveland, Ohio, sits an American delicatessen using locally foraged ingredients and an Asian-style mold to create a pastrami-on-rye sandwich. Welcome to Larder Delicatessen and Bakery, the science experiment-turned-award-winning business of Cleveland-born chef Jeremy Umansky. And yes, following this stretch of quarantine, it has reopened, with limits.
Umansky’s first book, Koji Alchemy: Rediscovering the Magic of Mold-Based Fermentation, is out now. Co-authored with Rich Shih, a leading expert and koji and miso researcher in the U.S., the book is a biology explainer/cookbook, delving into the history, along with the hows and whys, of koji-based fermentation. It also includes recipes for some of Larder’s most popular koji-based dishes.
But in this climate, Umansky and other mom-and-pops need more than a book release to keep their restaurants afloat. His work before the pandemic had been paying off: Larder was voted Best New Restaurant and…
