Thursday, February 26, 2009

Cousin of a Bagel

Here in Florida, I have found an old love. Not a person. A food. A soft chewy roll.
If you know that the cousin of a bagel is a bialy, you are probably from Brooklyn.

Here's the wikipedia description:

Bialy, a Yiddish word short for bialystoker, from BiaƂystok, a city in Poland, is a small roll that is a traditional dish in Polish Ashkenazi cuisine. A traditional bialy has a diameter of up to 15 cm (6 inches) and is a chewy yeast roll similar to a bagel. Unlike a bagel, which is boiled before baking, a bialy is simply baked, and instead of a hole in the middle it has a depression. Before baking, this depression is filled with diced onions and other ingredients, including (depending on the recipe) garlic, poppy seeds, or bread crumbs.

(and for those who want to read more, see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bialy)

I never get heartburn after eating a bialy like I often do from heavy bagels.
Bialys taste great with cream cheese and lox. For an even better treat, add capers, tomato, and a slice of muenster cheese. And some swear by extra onions, raw.

I admit that you can sometimes find bialys in upstate new york....like at the Ithaca Bakery.
But here in FL, in the Publix supermarkets, in the frozen food section are boxes of bialys to be eaten anytime...and they are de-lich.

3 comments:

Gretchen said...

Yum, I love bialys. I discovered them at Ryans's Deli in Hartford, CT back in the 70's
Sometimes Wegmans has them but I rarely see them anywhere else. Have one for me with cream cheese and olive!

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

My mom grew up in Brooklyn and the food is the thing she misses the most. Our family trips up there always included one entire day picking up our favorite foods from the various shops, buying enough to freeze once we got home and enjoy for the next few months ... sausage, bread, pizza, pastries ... I still remember the delicious aromas in the car on our drives back home.

The Afton Vision said...

Glad to see there are bialey fans here!!
I'll think of you two while I have my morning feast.