Ever since 30,000 Montrealers arrived in the 1970s, they’ve been kvetching that there’s no decent Jewish deli in this charcuterie-crazed town. The latest deli man to counter that narrow-minded view is Zane Caplansky, who opened Caplansky’s Deli this summer in the Monarch Tavern. In the first few weeks, he sold out of meat twice and was instantly hailed as a smoked meat messiah. It’s time to put aside comparisons—and niggling thoughts of Maple Leaf’s Fast Food Nation nightmare. Here are five pickled meats that Toronto does better than anyone else.

TORONTO PASTRAMI: In New York, pastrami is made from a cut of beef known as the navel. Toronto’s deli men do things differently: Lorne Pancer, the third-generation owner of Moe Pancer’s Deli (3856 Bathurst St., 416-633-1230), uses the whole brisket, rubbing cooked corned beef with peppery spices before popping it back into the oven. It’s more tender than NYC pastrami and more subtle than Montreal smoked meat.

BARREL-CURED CORNED BEEF: Rarely found in the U.S., barrel-cured meat is slowly brined in garlic, salt, aromatic spices and sugar. One of the best is at Thornhill’s little known Steeles Deli (182 Steeles Ave. W., Thornhill, 905-881-8366), where translucent pink slices practically liquefy on the tongue.

BABY BEEF: In the ’40s, a crooked downtown delicatessen supplier dyed then-inexpensive veal red and passed it off as corned beef. Customers loved the gentle flavour, and baby beef remains a delicacy that can only be found in the GTA. At Yitz’s Deli (346 Eglinton Ave. W., 416-487-4506), the lightly brined brisket of milk-fed veal—no longer dyed—tastes like corned beef’s velvet cousin.

TORONTO SMOKED MEAT: At Caplansky’s (12 Clinton St., 416-500-3852), Zane Caplansky rubs his briskets in spices he picks up in Little India, cures them in barrels for up to three weeks, then hardwood smokes them until the meat is deep maroon and super-tender. Imagine Schwartz’s famous product married with Texas-style barbecue brisket.

HOT TONGUE: Hot pickled tongue is the only way to enjoy the fattiest, saltiest and most decadent of all Jewish deli meats. When it’s properly boiled, peeled, sliced razor-thin and steamed to order, like they do at the mother-daughter-run Coleman’s Deli (3085 Bathurst St., 416-789-1141), it should dissolve directly into the arteries.