makes 1 dozen bialys
In New York, any place that sells lox and bagels is sure to have bialys. Softer than a bagel, with a well in the center filled with caramelized onions, it is the bagel’s overlooked sibling. Legend has it that it was invented in the town of Bialystok in eastern Poland. That could be true, but bialy also means “pale” in Polish, and it is a pale roll when compared to a golden bagel. I like to believe that both stories are true. The thing I’ve noticed about bialys is that no one ever goes into a bakery and orders just bialys. Usually, it’s “Give me a half dozen bagels and a couple bialys.” Yet bialys have their own undeniable virtues. For example, I find that pickled herring in cream sauce, smoked sturgeon, and whitefish are all better suited to the bialy than the bagel, perhaps because the bialy’s pale color suggests serving it with a white-fleshed fish.
Properly caramelized onions are critical to a proper bialy. They add kokumi, a newly identified flavor discovered by Japanese scientists. It’s prominent in shallots, garlic, and onions. Kokumi is said to increase mouthfeel and amplify flavor. Taste a bialy without onions and you will agree: It’s incomplete.
It took me a while to hit on the right recipe for bialys, and I don’t claim that you’ll find crème fraîche used in the Polish original, but it has a marvelous flavor, and its texture further boosts the mouthfeel.