Delikatessen
Delikatessen
German (from French délicatesse)
“Delicatessen is a German word borrowed from French — it means 'delicacies,' and the American deli is a German-Jewish institution that became as New York as the subway.”
Delikatessen is the German plural of Delikatesse (a delicacy, a fine food), borrowed from French délicatesse (delicacy, refinement), from Italian delicatezza, from Latin delicatus (pleasing, alluring). The chain of borrowing runs Latin → Italian → French → German → English. Each language took the word and moved it slightly closer to the lunch counter.
German-Jewish immigrants brought the delicatessen to New York in the late nineteenth century. The first delicatessens sold prepared foods from the old country: cured meats, smoked fish, pickles, rye bread, and imported cheeses. They were different from groceries (which sold raw ingredients) and from restaurants (which served cooked meals to order). The deli was in between — ready-to-eat food, sold by weight, over a counter.
The New York deli became an institution. Katz's Delicatessen, opened in 1888 on the Lower East Side, still operates. The Second Avenue Deli, Carnegie Deli, and Barney Greengrass became landmarks. The menu — pastrami on rye, corned beef, matzo ball soup, lox and bagels — became the cuisine of New York Jewish culture. The word 'deli' (shortened from delicatessen) entered American English as a generic term for any shop selling prepared foods and sandwiches.
The word has been so thoroughly Americanized that most English speakers do not hear it as German. 'The deli on the corner' is as American as 'the drugstore on the corner.' The German plural of a French word derived from Italian and Latin is now a one-syllable American English word. The chain of European refinement ended at a counter in Manhattan, serving pastrami on rye.
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Today
Deli is one of the most common words in American food culture. Every city has delis. Every supermarket has a deli counter. The word has generalized beyond its German-Jewish origins — a Korean deli, a halal deli, an Italian deli. The format traveled further than the cuisine that created it.
A Latin word for pleasing things became a French word for refinement became a German word for fine foods became an American word for a sandwich shop. Each transfer lost some formality and gained some mustard. The delicatessen started as delicacy. It ended as lunch.
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