Monday, April 09, 2007

Levy's Real Jewish Rye

Have you ever had Levy's Real Jewish Rye? What a great bread.
Levy's was always my family's favorite sandwich bread growing up. It goes great with any cold cut, it's the perfect venue for mustard, it even toasts well. The wrapping is attractively melted around the bread, giving an unparalleled effect that twisty-tied white breads lack, as well as making consuming the bread before it goes stale a race against time. Better to go to the deli, get some pickles, mayo, Gulden's Spicy Brown mustard, ham, turkey, liverwurst, cracked pepper turkey, big juicy tomatoes and lettuce and invite all your friends to help polish off the whole loaf. In my own lazy search I couldn't find any availability info, so I wonder if this classic product is only available in New York. I know it's not available in Korea. Here they have the palest of pale imitations of rye bread imaginable, essentially Wonder Bread with a dash of rye thrown in, giving nothing if not a tantalizing hint of all that I left behind in America. Incidentally, eating Levy's Real Jewish Rye was on my short list of things to do when I went back to the States two years ago, but it got bumped off the list by silly things like seeing friends and family, so I haven't eaten this venerable product for over four years. But If I close my eyes I can still taste it.
Check out these photos I found of a 70s-era Levy's ad campaign. Awesome.


This lucky guy bears an uncanny resemblance to The Host star Byeon Hee-bong. As a matter of fact, go watch the trailer for The Host right now, and rent it tonight, it's great.



1 comment:

Kristin said...

I've never seen Levy's before. I think you're right that its only in NY.