Pastrami with a new twist

SOMERVILLE -- "I'll pastrami anything," says Jason Santos, chef of Gargoyles on the Square. He features seasoned and smoked "pastrami style" duck breasts on his menu at the Davis Square restaurant, and says customers love the slightly salty taste and tender meat.

Santos, who has made a name for himself venturing into culinary extremes at Gargoyles , and earlier at Tremont 647, loves taking familiar foods and tweaking them into something different. "Everyone knows pastrami that's made from beef brisket," he says. He applies the same principle to duck to get a different flavor. "You could use turkey breasts, too," he adds.

To make pastrami, duck breasts are first cured in a salt-water brine (when using brisket, the brining process yields what is known as corned beef). The duck is rubbed heavily with spices and then smoked.

A cast-iron stovetop smoker works well for this pastrami. If you don't have a smoker, you can create a similar effect with a gas or charcoal grill by placing a cast-iron smoker box, filled with wood chips, just over the heat source. Making your own, says Santos, delivers a more natural and chemical-free product compared to what is sold commercially.

Hot-smoking the meat adds flavor. However, what really gives pastrami its unique taste is the peppery crust made from ground peppercorns and coriander seeds. Santos likes the way duck breasts, which are lean but rich, can stand up to the smoky, spicy coating. To match the duck, try a tomato sauce laced with molasses. It's just the kind of twist that Santos loves to employ to get people talking about his food. -- LISA ZWIRN

Gargoyles on the Square, 219 Elm St., Somerville, 617-776-5300.