No community recipes have been added yet.

Archive story

A schmear is more than a thin swipe. In Jewish American deli and appetizing-shop culture, it means a satisfying spread of cream cheese on a chewy bagel, sometimes plain and sometimes flecked with scallions or vegetables. The bagel arrived with Eastern European Jewish immigrants; cream cheese became an American dairy product; New York made the pairing iconic. This entry preserves the everyday deli format apart from the fuller bagel-and-lox sandwich.