The Daily Omnivore

Asado [ah-sahdo] is a technique for cooking meat on a grill (parrilla) or open fire. It is considered the traditional dish of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile. In southern Brazil it’s called ‘churrasco.’ An asado typically has a sequence: First are the chorizos, morcillas (black pudding), chinchulines (chitterlings), mollejas (sweetbread) and other organs, often accompanied by provoleta, a grilled cheese dish. Organs are sometimes these are served on a coal-heated brasero. Then costillas or asado de tira (ribs) are served. Finally, vacío (flank steak), matambre and possibly chicken and chivito (baby goat). Dishes such as the Uruguayan Pamplona, pork and Patagonian lamb are becoming more frequent, particularly in restaurants.

An asado also includes bread, a simple mixed salad of, for instance, lettuce, tomato and onions, or it could be accompanied with verdurajo (grilled vegetables), a mixture made of potatoes, corn, onion and eggplant cooked on the parrilla and seasoned with olive oil and salt. The meat for an asado is not marinated, the only preparation being the application of salt before and/or during the cooking period. Chimichurri, a sauce of chopped parsley, dried oregano, garlic, salt, pepper, onion, and paprika with olive oil, and salsa criolla, a sauce of tomato and onion in vinegar, are common accompaniments to an asado, where they are traditionally used on the offal, but not the steaks.

Ka’ak is the Arabic word for ‘cake,’ and can refer to several different types of baked goods produced throughout the Arab world and the Near East. A common type of ka’ak is a bread consumed throughout the Near East that is made in a large ring-shape and is covered with sesame seeds. Fermented chickpeas (known as hummus in Arabic and Hebrew) are used as a leavening agent. Widely sold by street vendors, it is usually eaten as a snack or for breakfast with za’atar. In East Jerusalem, it’s sometimes served alongside oven-baked eggs and falafel. Palestinians consider Jerusalem ka’ak to be a unique specialty good, and those from the city or visiting there often buy several loaves to give as gifts.

In Lebanon, ka’ak bread rings are made of sweet dough rolled into ropes and formed into rings and topped with sesame seeds. Instead of za’atar, after baking, it is glazed with milk and sugar and then dried. Tunisian Jews also make a slightly sweet-and-salty version of the pastry, but don’t use a yeast-based dough. In Egypt, usually at wedding parties, a variation made with almonds, known as kahk bi loz, is served.

A bialy [bee-ah-lee] is a small roll that is a traditional dish in Polish Ashkenazi cuisine. A traditional bialy has a diameter of up to 15 cm (6 inches) and is a chewy yeast roll similar to a bagel. Unlike a bagel, which is boiled before baking, a bialy is simply baked, and instead of a hole in the middle it has a depression. Before baking, this depression is filled with diced onions and other ingredients, including garlic, poppy seeds, or bread crumbs. The name bialy is Yiddish and short for ‘bialystoker kuchen’ (Bialystok Cake). Białystok is a city in Poland. The bialy was formerly little known outside of New York City, but has started to move into the larger market. They were originally brought into the United States by Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The bialy was first marketed in the United States during the early 1900s in the state of New York by Harry Cohen, a proprietor of a bagel (and later bialy) establishment. In 2002, former New York Times food writer Mimi Sheraton wrote a book dedicated to the bialy, called The Bialy Eaters: The Story of a Bread and a Lost World. She examined bialy making and used Kossar’s Bialys as the background, and its long-time union bakers as key references for her research that took her to Poland in search of the original bialy bakers.