bialy per la giornata mondiale del pane / bialys for World Bread Day 2011

I have been baking bread at home for a few years now, but I have missed World Bread Day because the event sort of sneaked up on me finding me unprepared. This year, I made a point of being prepared, so I have a nice bread to share: Boiceville Bialys from "Simply Great Breads" by Daniel Leader with Lauren Chattman. My dictionary defines bialy as "A flat bread roll topped with chopped onions." (Note that the recipe directs you to use a stand-up mixer. However, the dough can be mixed and kneaded by hand, which is what I did.)

I have also another book by Leader: "Local Breads," and I have featured recipes from it here, here and here. The recipe for bialys caught my attention immediately upon going through the book. I have made it twice, halving the quantities and also using my own poppy seeds (semi di papavero) for the filling: I like the combination with onion (cipolla). If you end up having leftover filling, you can use it as topping for a soup, like I did here.

A few weeks ago, I published a photo of my poppy seeds and I mentioned I had used them in a bread recipe: well, here it is and here is a photo of one of my poppies.

The photo above of the baked bialys is not great, but please believe me, they are great. The description Leader gives is perfect: "The bialys come out light and bubbly, with a thin but wonderfully crisp crust."

The parting shot is of the filled bialys ready to go into the oven. "Bialys are best eaten on the day they are baked," says Leader. Indeed, it is difficult to make them last until dinner time (ora di cena).

Happy World Bread Day!

This is my contribution to World Bread Day 2011, an event organized by Zorra of Kochtopf. The event takes place today only.

This post contains the section of the roundup that includes my entry, while this post contains pointers to all the sections of the roundup.

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

bialy per la giornata mondiale del pane

or launch the bialy per la giornata mondiale del pane audio file [mp3].

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bread, onion

Comments

[bellini]

It does look delicious Simona!

[Milen@]

E' bellissimo "andare di pane in pane" e leggere le proposte dei vari blog ....
Ma in quanti modi si può preparare? E' una scoperta stupefacente :D

[Caffettiera]

I've never heard of this bread before. It looks too tempting to be safe to cook, but on the other hand, World Bread Day must be celebrated somehow..

[astrofiammante]

evviva il pane, specie quando sono delle pagnottine così invitanti, ciauzzzzzz

[Catalina]

The combination of poppy seeds and onion sounds really interesting! I use a lot of poppy seeds when I bake but it's always acompanied by something sweet. I've never tried "savoury" poppy seeds in fact. Anyway, your bread is perfect (as always) and the photo as well!

[Paz]

i missed world bread day. the bialys looks delicious.

[Simona Carini]

Thanks, Val.

Ciao Lenny: mi piace la tua espressione "andare di pane in pane."

Ciao Caffettiera. It is extremely tempting, and that is why I halved the quantities and I also froze two of the bialys for later. It's called prevention.

Ciao Marta. Assolutamente consigliate.

Ciao Catalina. It was a first for me as well and a pleasant surprise. Thanks for your kind words.

Thanks, Paz.