Etymology and origin

The name pastrami comes from Romanian pastramă, which in turn comes from Greek παστραμάς/παστουρμάς, itself borrowed from Turkish pastırma.^[1][2][3][4] The Turkish name comes from the Turkish: bastırma et 'pressed meat'.^[5][6]

Wind-dried beef had been made in Anatolia for centuries, and Byzantine dried meat is probably "one of the forerunners of thepastirma of modern Turkey".^[7]

Early references in English used the spelling “pastrama”, closer to the Romanian original pastramă. Pastrami was introduced to the United States in a wave of Jewish immigration from Bessarabia and Romania in the second half of the 19th century.^{[citation needed]} The modified “pastrami” spelling was probably introduced in imitation of the American English salami.^[8]Romanian Jews immigrated to New York as early as 1872. Among Jewish Romanians, goose breasts were commonly made into pastrami because they were inexpensive. Beef navels were cheaper than goose meat in America, so the Romanian Jews in America adapted their recipe and began to make the cheaper beef pastrami...

   Goose is wonderful when made into pastrami...it's a great pairing.  My preference is to leave venison and duck to other means of cooking than pastrami...but that's after having turned them into pastrami in the first place.  Thinking about duck, I need to make some prosciutto!

  When it comes to game, especially geese, I'm of the thinking that the meat benefits from some aging.  I know that there are plenty of people with way more experience hunting, and cooking game and I don't say this as an end all be all...but what has worked for me cooking and eating game.  

Waterfowl & Dry Aging

  Dry Aging can happen at any time, either before you put your ducks in the freezer or as your pulling them out. Dry aging is nothing more than the draining of the capillary blood and the evaporation of the internal moisture of the muscles. Without the blood the taste become very delicate and mild. Without the internal moisture the fiber structure of the muscle tissue breaks down and becomes tender. Tender and Delicate, then you won't need the "habanero, teriyake, honey, sake, soy glaze" to get everyone to eat it.