Bialy, a Yiddish word short for
bialystoker, from Białystok, a city in
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, 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
yeastYeasts are eukaryotic micro-organisms classified in the kingdom Fungi, with about 1,500 species currently described; they dominate fungal diversity in the oceans. Most reproduce asexually by budding, although a few do so by binary fission...
roll similar to a
bagelA bagel is a bread product, traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, which is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior...
. 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
onionOnion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa. Allium cepa is also known as the "garden onion" or "bulb" onion...
s and other ingredients, including (depending on the recipe)
garlicAllium sativum, commonly known as garlic, is a species in the onion family Alliaceae. Its close relatives include the onion, shallot, leek, and chive. Garlic has been used throughout recorded history for both culinary and medicinal purposes. It has a characteristic pungent, spicy flavor that...
,
poppy seedPoppy seed is used as an ingredient in many foods. The tiny kidney-shaped seeds are used whole or ground, often as a topping or filling in various baked goods. They are harvested from the opium poppy seed pods, and have been cultivated by various civilizations...
s, or bread crumbs.
The name bialy is short for bialystoker kuchen (Bialystok's Cake). The bialy was formerly little known outside of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
, but has started to move into the larger market. They were originally brought into the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by
Ashkenazi JewishAshkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley and northern France...
immigrants during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The bialy was first marketed in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the early 1900s in the state of
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
by Harry Cohen, a proprietor of a bagel (and later bialy) establishment.
In 2002, former
New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
food writer Mimi Sheraton wrote a book dedicated to the bialy, called
The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World. She examined bialy making and used
Kossar's BialysKossar's Bialys on the Lower East Side, Manhattan is the oldest bialy bakery in the United States.-Background:The bialy gets its name from the "Bialystoker Kuchen" of Bialystok, Poland...
as the background, and its long-time union bakers as key references for her research that took her to Poland in search of the original bialy bakers.
External links