If you didn’t grow up in Buffalo—or in my case, if your mother didn’t grow up in Buffalo—then chances are that beef on weck is not part of your culinary vernacular. Trust me, it should be. Weck, short for kummelweck, is a type of bread topped with salt and caraway seeds that is, to my knowledge, only made in the Buffalo-Rochester area. (Kümmel is German for caraway, and weck means roll.) A typical beef on weck involves thinly sliced roast beef piled high and the top of the bun dipped in au jus. It’s served with rip-snorting horseradish. And my god, it’s good.
A couple weeks ago, I got into a beef on weck love fest with our friend Jeff, who works at nfl.com and knows a thing or two about the finer points of Buffalo cuisine. One thing led to another, which may or may not have involved Jeff purchasing a beef roast the size of three footballs, and tomorrow we are cooking up a tailgate-style feast. I just pulled out the weck hot out of the oven (above). Amazing. On tomorrow’s menu:
Beef on Weck
Bocce Club Pizza (flown in from Buffalo!) – one cheese, one pepperoni
and of course…
Buffalo Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing
Time to get your tailgate on, Buffalo style!
Update: Check out the final results of beef on weck. Spectacular!
