stealing the thread a bit.
who makes great bilays in NYC? Anyone or no one?
Kossars, Orwasher, Russ &, another.
I had Kossars a decade ago, and they were disappointing as compared to what I remember of my local bakery of my youth.
I made some yesterday, and they were tasty, but I have to work on the center shaping so the onions & poppy don’t have a Vesuvius eruption.
Kossars are pretty good, but as you say, homemade is better. Are you have trouble getting the center indentation to stay put?
I used to like the ones they stocked at Citarella – you could call and find out their source.
Kossar’s used to be better than most (and their bialys were definitely the draw, not the bagels) but I don’t know if they’ve held up since the expansion.
(The 6-packs at Fairway or Zabar’s will do in desperation.)
Homemade are easier than bagels, certainly.
yea. but I think I didn’t make the center thin enough in the final shape.
next time.
I shape the dough like a kiddie pool, almost flat with a raised edge. Comes out like this:
Most of the time.
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Right, exactly.
R&D sells a very respectable bialy.
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nostalgia plays a huge role in how we perceive food, especially when it comes to bagels, bialys, and pizza. The flavors and textures we grew up with become the gold standard, and anything different, even if it’s objectively great, never quite measures up.
Kosar’s does a solid bialy, but I know what you mean, it’s not the same as the old-school Jewish bakeries. Some of those places had their own quirks that made their bialys unique.
baking Bialys is a fun (and obsessive) project. They are surprisingly simple in ingredients but tricky to get just right, getting a slightly chewy, slightly crisp texture with the right depth of onion flavor takes some tweaking but if you keep at it, I bet you’ll find what you’re looking for.
best,
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We had Kossars bagels recently (I kno
w they’re known for bialys) and I might as well habve order from a place in Des Moines.
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yea, but the corn is great in Iowa.!
Well the corn muffins are great in NYC!
Here, I will provide you with a valuable tool. You’re welcome.
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it appears that North Dakota is a wide open market for round bread with holes.
Well, for lox, anyway. I checked my parents’ NJ zip code - there is no shortage of bagels there. But there’s apparently no Acme Smoked Fish, so it came up blank.
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At The Pickled Herring (kosher-style deli and appetizing), all their smoked fish come from Acme.
Different area of the state (about 25 miles south of Westfield): Zip codes 07751 and 07726.
Edited to add: Wegmans, in Manalapan, carries packaged smoked fish from Acme.
Pickled Herring must be flying under the radar, 'cause it’s nowhere on Acme’s map.
And Wegman’s doesn’t count. This is a map of places that will serve you a bagel and lox.
I never knew Acme has such a map. No idea why TPH is not on it.
Re: places that will serve you a bagel and lox. Bagel World, in Manalapan (07726), offers bagel sandwiches with lox (Nova), baked salmon and white fish. I just called and was told their smoked fish comes from Acme.
