New York, New York… are you there? Come in please. Over.

Is this thing on? *tap tap tap*

New York, I repeat. This is Bristol. Come in, please. Over.

Bristol, this is New York.  What is the problem? Over.

New York—what the hell is a bialy supposed to look like, over.

The usual problem with making something that you’ve only ever read about is, what on earth is the damn thing supposed to taste like?  In the case of the bialy, I knew that the crumb was supposed to be chewy like a bagel and I could easily imagine how delicious an onion and poppyseed filling would taste… but I kept reading all sorts of different descriptions of how they should look.  Google image search just confused me even more!  Still, I plunged on regardless.

Bialys have been on my to-bake list for what seems like forever.  They’re not something I’ve ever seen in the UK, and I was a proto-foodie when Dave and I visited New York years ago, so I couldn’t make the effort to track some down as I’d never heard of them!  If you haven’t heard of them, then let me (try to) enlighten you.  The bialy is the cousin of the bagel.  It’s the same dough, but instead of being shaped into a ring, boiled, then baked, the bialy is allowed to rise into a pillowy ball of dough and just before baking a hollow is made in the centre of the dough-ball, and filled with a teaspoon of either fried onions and poppy seeds or a caramelised onion mix.  Sounds good, right?

Believe me, they are every bit as delicious as they sound.  Why did I wait so long to make them??

Even better, bialys are really easy to make.  The dough, while a bit on the sticky side, is really straightforward to make.  If you have a Kitchen Aid (and haven’t lost your dough hook) then this is the perfect dough to make in it.  It is managable by hand—a dough scraper will help loads here—but if you hate sticky dough on your hands and automatically add flour, then toss it in the mixer and keep all that lovely moisture in the dough.

After the second rise, the dough is much easier to handle and it is really easy to create the dramatic crater that cradles the lovely onion and poppy seed filling.  I would really love to know whether the crater should have remained after baking or whether it is okay that it closed back up, trapping the filling.  This actually turned out to be quite handy when it came to toasting leftover bialys the next day.

I will definitely be making these beauties again.  After much dedicated munching, I have determined that I like them best lightly toasted and slathered with some good salted butter.  I think you would, too.

Bialys
Source: adapted from The Bread Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum, W.W. Norton & Co.

Yield: Six 4 x 1 1/4-inch high bialys (easily doubled if you’re feeling greedy)

• 300g bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon instant (easybake) yeast
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 200g water, at room temperature

• 2 1/4 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 small onion (45g peeled weight), chopped finely
• 3/4 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• black pepper, to taste

1. Mix the dough. In the bowl, whisk together the flour and the yeast, then whisk in the salt (this keeps the yeast from coming in direct contact with the salt which would kill it). With the dough hook, on low speed (#2 if using a KitchenAid), gradually add the water, mixing for about 1 minute or until the flour mixture is moistened. Raise the speed to medium (#4 KitchenAid) and continue mixing for 7 minutes. The dough should clean the bowl but be soft and elastic. Add a little extra flour or water if necessary. (The dough will weigh about 506 grams).

2.Let the dough rise. Place the dough in a large bowl, lightly greased with cooking spray or oil. Press down the dough and lightly oil the top. Cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. With a piece of tape, mark the side of the container at approximately where double the height of the dough would be. Allow the dough to rise, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until it has doubled.

3. Shape the dough and let it rise. Deflate the dough by firmly pushing it down, and transfer it to a floured worktop. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces (about 84g each). Work with one piece at a time, keeping the remaining dough covered. Maintaining as much air as possible in the dough, round each piece by pulling the dough together to form a pouch, stretching to make a smooth skin, and pinching it together where the edges meet. Set it on a floured baking sheet or tray, pinched side down. (The rounds will be 2 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches high.) Flour the tops and cover with plastic wrap.

Allow the bialys to rise for about 2 hours  or until almost doubled; when pressed lightly in the centre, they should keep the impression. If the dough is underrisen, it will puff up in the centre instead of maintaining the characteristic hollow crater. The trick for underrisen dough is to make a small hole in the centre before adding the filling. Since the dough bakes so quickly, it’s easy to test bake one to see if the dough is ready. If you want to be on the safe side, make the hole anyway.

4. Make the onion-poppy seed filling. In a small saute pan, heat the oil. Add the onion and saute over medium heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes or until translucent.  Remove from the heat and add the poppy seeds, salt, and pepper to taste. Cool.

5. Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 240°C 30 minutes before baking. have an oven shelf at the lowest level and place a baking stone or baking sheet on it, and a sheet pan on the floor of the oven, before preheating.

6. Make the craters for the filling. Holding each piece of dough with both hands, with your thumbs in the middle and almost touching, pinch the center of the dough tightly between your thumbs and first two fingers and stretch the dough to 4 1/2 to 5 inches in diameter, forming a crater in the centre.  Place it on the lined baking sheet and spoon 1 teaspoon of onion-poppy seed filling into the centre.

7. Bake the bialys. Place the baking sheet with the bialys directly on the hot oven stone or hot baking sheet, or, if using parchment, use a peel or a cookie sheet to slide the parchment with the bialys onto the stone or sheet. Toss a handful of ice cubes into the sheet pan on the oven floor, and immediately shut the door. Bake for 6 to 10 minutes or until pale golden and mottled with brown spots.

8. Cool the bialys. Remove the baking sheet or parchment from the oven and, with a pancake turner, transfer the bialys to wire racks to cool until just warm.

Storage: The bialys keep well for one day at room temperature in a paper bag. For longer storage, wrap each in airtight plastic wrap and place freezer bags in the freezer for up to one month. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature.