For years, you could find pletzl, a flatbread topped with raw or caramelized onions and poppy seeds, sold alongside bagels and bialys at Jewish bakeries along the East Coast. Pletzl was brought to the U.S. by Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian Jews in the mid-20th century, but the bread never seemed to capture the American palette the way bagels have, and it slowly faded into semi-obscurity.
Pletzl (aka onion board or platzel) is typically made from flour, yeast, oil, salt and water. In “The Encyclopedia of Jewish Food,” Gil Marks explains how this bread, the texture of which can be thin like a cracker or light and airy with a more focaccia-esque crumb, gained popularity in the 19th century, as Eastern European Jews gained access to modern milling equipment and techniques that allowed them to move beyond the rye bread they were accustomed to and toward lighter flatbreads.
Pletzel’s exact origins are unclear, but we can fairly reliably connect them to their successors, bialys, which Mimi Sheraton, food critic and author of “The Bialy Eaters,” theorizes was born from a pletzel gone rogue:
“My theory is that a pletzel, having been formed but not baked, fell on the floor and somebody stepped on it with the heel going into the center, and being frugal decided to bake it anyway and see what happened. And so, the bialy was born.”
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Linguistically, Marks connects pletzl to German plätzchen (crackers). He also notes that the origin of the term “onion board” is likely due to the fact that the flatbread would’ve been formed on a baking board, known in Yiddish as a lokshen bretl. Bretl, Marks suggests, sounds similar to pletzel.
You can still find this tragically underrated bread — if you know where to look. These days, rather than the traditional oblong shape formed on a baking board, some bakeries sell pletzlach as rolls or discs, which more closely resemble the bialy. Kossar’s Bagels and Bialys in New York sells an almost pizza-like circular version, which, thanks to the miracles of same-day shipping, is available to order via Goldbelly.
The Yiddish word “pletzl” means ‘little place,” and it’s also the former name of the Jewish quarter in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. There, on Rue de Écouffes, Florence Kahn sells a pletzel sandwich from her eponymous bakery. Though traditionally pletzel were served whole with a schmear of cream cheese or chopped liver on top, Khan cuts hers down the middle to make a sandwich, filled with pastrami, turkey or corned beef, topped with a variety of vegetables. Following suit, Joe Baur uses pletzl to play on the Iraqi-Israeli sabich sandwich, with silky eggplant and flavorful amba.
Pletzl is simple to make at home. Like many historical recipes, there are plenty of discrepancies. “There are at least eighteen or so varieties of pletzl,” Marks writes. “The most famous one is topped with the principal Ashkenazic seasoning, onions (tzibele); it is known as tzibele pletzl; tzibele zemmel, tzibele papalik, and simply pletzl.” There are also sweet pletzels without onions.
While Kahn’s pletzl dough is enriched with eggs and sugar, Leah Koenig’s recipe in “Modern Jewish Cooking” (as well as my recipe below) omits egg in the dough and tops the flatbread with pre-cooked onions. More than the dough itself, it’s the ease of cooking that seems to be a common thread among pletzls. Whether you whip up a quick dough of flour, yeast, salt and water or use a big pinch of your Shabbat challah dough, the idea is the same.
Note: Bread will last for 2-3 days in an airtight container on the counter.
if u r from NYC, this was common. Still available in 21208
I grew up on this wonderful bread. Sure pot cheese,cream cheese and some lox maybe!!!
Have tried to print recipe but it won’t print. Even tried my husband’s phone but no lucj
Take a screenshot
I grew up with pletzl on Long Island but have not found it in decades. So thank you SO MUCH for posting this amazing memory so I can recreate it at home!!!
Confound it…just HAD to send this one out to us. I made it today – came out great!
I have a recipe for this; been a bit since I made it, but definitely one of my favorites. Nothing beats a square with a schmear of cream cheese. 😁 I also make my own bialys at home too. Both are actually very easy to make; can’t say I’ve found pletzl anywhere locally.