Bialys vs. Bagels: What's the Difference?

Every Sunday morning while I was growing up, my father went to the town's bagel shops for our ritual brunches. And even though the meal never really changed — there'd be lox, a small smoked whitefish, herring in sour cream sauce, cream cheese (always plain, none of the flavored stuff you see now), and a dozen bagels with an extra thrown in to make it a baker's dozen — he'd always ask us what we wanted. My mother instructed him every time as far as the bagels went: A few sesame, a few poppy, a few onion, a few plain. "And don't forget a bialy or two for Jen!"

In a family of three siblings, I was the only real bialy fan. But I never ate them for those Sunday breakfasts, when irresistible onion bagels were also available. I waited to savor them as a late-night snack before bed and school the next day. But it was also because you don't really load up a bialy the way you do a bagel, with all the cream cheese, onion-and-tomato, and delicatessen fixings.

No, bialys, with their light crumb and onion-and-poppy-seed middle, are best when they're split and buttered, like an English muffin. They're so good on their own they need no disguise. You usually eat them either toasted or just out of the oven, the way we would get them on the occasions we'd journey to the Lower East Side bakeries, now long gone, from our northeastern New Jersey town.

What is a bialy?

Named for its birthplace in Poland, a town called Bialystock, the bialy is short for the Yiddish bialystoker kuchen. Flat and circular, with a solid bottom and a dugout in the top, the bialy is a baked yeast roll. The well is usually filled with sautéed onions and occasionally poppy seeds, and sometimes (but rarely) other toppings ranging from garlic to breadcrumbs to sundried tomatoes. From a certain perspective, it looks similar to a bagel. Thus it's often included in the same category and sold where bagels are sold, although it's become harder and harder to find over the years.

The bialy is an important cultural touchpoint for Polish (and other Eastern European) Ashkenazi Jews, who brought it with them to the U.S. when they immigrated. While it never became popular elsewhere, it took root in the northeastern part of the country, especially New York City, where many Ashkenazi families settled and assimilated.

What is a bagel?

Despite some muddying of the Eastern European waters regarding the origin of bagels, they too were invented by Ashkenazi Jews. Originating in Kraków, Poland, bagels were the ethnic answer to the bublik, which has a larger hole in the center and is a little harder on the jaw in terms of chewiness.

Some of the earliest written mentions of the bagel — around 1610 — mandate that they be given to women after childbirth. Their round shape suggested that they had magical powers. Make of that what you will, but I'm a believer. They will definitely trick you into eating them, even when you're not hungry.

What's the difference between a bagel and a bialy?

First and most obviously, a bagel has a hole where a bialy has a depression. The disc-like shape is what leads people to associate the two, but bialy aficionados argue that the bialy really should be included in the roll category.

While they're both baked with yeast and flour, the bagel requires a high-gluten flour so that the structure is more rigid and chewy. By contrast, the bialy has a puffy appearance, and is literally filled with air — when you cut one open, you see holes here and there. These air pockets are ideal for holding melted butter like the English muffin's nooks and crannies do.

Generally, unless it is plain, a bagel is covered with seeds or its flavorings all over and sometimes throughout the interior. By contrast, the bialy is flavored only on the exterior, with toppings scattered over the middle depression and occasionally strewn over the top.

Finally, and most distinctively, the bagel is boiled before it's baked. This gives it that hard, shiny crust that pulls away from the softer interior dough. The bialy is simply baked, hopefully in a brick oven, dusted with rice flour, wheat flour, or corn meal. You can usually see the residue on the final product.

You probably know how to eat a bagel, but what about a bialy?

If a bialy is hot out of the oven — and do let me know if you find a place selling them like that, so I can go there — slice it, butter it, and enjoy. I personally like to save the onion-y middle for last, but that's up to you.

More likely than not, however, you won't find a fresh, hot bialy nearby. Try your hand at making bialys yourself. Or mail-order a dozen or two from Russ & Daughters or Kossar's Bagels & Bialys. Then you can either reheat them to crisp them up (use parchment paper-lined baking sheets in a 375-degree oven for the best outcome) or slice them in half and toast them.

You can do likewise with bagels, although these of course have gained more popularity over the years and are easier to find all over the nation. However, if you're of the mind that New York bagels are better because certain minerals make the water softer there, then you can also order them from the aforementioned bakery/delis — with all the smoked fish and shmear fixings, too. (Tip: Enjoy what you can fresh and then freeze the rest right away. Both bagels and bialys keep well in the freezer.)

Frankly, nobody will tell you it's a shonda (a shame) to top a bialy with cream cheese and smoked salmon (or worse, a trendy flavored cream cheese or hummus). A passing Ashkenazi Jew might give you a sidelong glance and mutter something about "no shmear!" Those of us who love bialys know that they're best with butter. But our ancestors came to this country for freedom. So do what you will with your bialy, as long as you enjoy it.

Related:

• Chef John's Polish Bialys Are Like Lighter, Savory Bagels
• These 10 Polish Breakfast Recipes Are a Sweet Start to the Day
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