NewYorkFirst.com: Kossar's Bialys

The Epicenter of Bialy Culture.

Mimi Sheraton describes the bialy as "a tenderly crusty roll, characterized by an indented center well that is ringed by a softer, higher rim, all generously flecked with toasted onions and, at its most authentic, with a showering of poppy seeds." It has, she adds with a certain reverence, "an affinity for sweet butter and fluffy cream cheese."

Originally baked in Bialystok, Poland, the bialy was carried to New York City by Jewish immigrants. The oldest bialy factory in the United States is Kossar's Bialystoker Kuchen Bakery on Grand Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

Kossar's Bialys Kossar's is a bright, no-frills bakery with a small, makeshift sales counter. In the morning and late afternoon, the air is veiled in flour and heady with scents of yeast, onions and hot bread. Silent bakers in white T-shirts work with assurance, shaping, pressing and stretching small balls of soft, cuddly dough to form the well. Then they smear on ground fresh onions before placing into the brick oven for baking.

Late Saturday night, bearded, black-hatted Orthodox Jews line up outside Kossar's for Sunday breakfast bialys alongside green-haired, tattooed hipsters from the clubs around nearby Ludlow and Forsyth Streets. Far from Bialystok.

Availability: Please Read Before Ordering: All orders are shipped direct from the Kossar's Bakery, Monday thru Thursday, via NEXT DAY AIR. Your order must be received before 10 AM (NY time) to ship the same day; after 10 AM orders ship the following day. Orders received after 10 AM on Thursday will ship the following Monday. (Perishable orders do not move on weekends).

The Correct Way To
Eat a Bialy

1 bialy
Butter or cream cheese

Baking the bialy a little bit extra at home just before serving, to get them to the desired degree of brown. Do not slice bialy, bagel-style. Spread a fresh, hot bialy with either butter or cream cheese, either on the bottom or over the top of the roll. If underneath, take care not to shake loose the onions and, if there are some, poppy seeds. If spreading butter or cheese over the top, stuff a little extra spread into the well to form an especially luscious mouthful.
(Serves 1)