Bulkie roll

I also am a native New Englander (Rhode Island, but, of course went to College in Boston, like everyone else). Imagine my surprise, upon joining the Air Force and moving away, that no one else has Bulkie Rolls. What am I to have my sandwiches on? Regular Bread?

Saying "Bulkie Rolls" is like saying "Trouser Pants"...They are BULKIES...period. End of discussion.

Ya know, I was talking to a friend from Texas and I mentioned a bulkie roll and she was like "what's that?" I never thought that this was only a "bostonian" word.

Does anyone know the derivation of the word "bulkie"? I thought it might be Yiddish, but I'm not sure.

Well, deli fans...I am shocked-- SHOCKED-- to discover that the Bulkie Roll is a product of Boston. I always assumed that the Bulkie (pronounced Bool'- kee) was revered and enjoyed by deli fans everywhere. I stand corrected...But is a Kaiser really the same thing? I always thought that the Kaiser was a little different than a Bulkie... I thought the Kaiser was a tad softer and eggier...I have heard Bulkies referred to both as Bulkie Rolls and Bulkies-- and this goes back to the 1960s.Related potential Bostonianisms related to deli or Jewish food:The Boston lat-kee (latke, the Jewish potato pancake) is a lat-kah to New Yorkers. I think a lat-kee has infinitely more character.Dark rye-- black bread to New Yorkers.Light rye-- often known to New Yorkers as corn bread, for some unfathomable reason. Or just known as rye.I'll give New Yorkers a pass on the dark rye/light rye front, though, because you can get top-flight corned beef and, sometimes, pastrami, in New York City. I generally like Boston's version of tongue better, though...

Well, deli fans...I am shocked-- SHOCKED-- to discover that the Bulkie Roll is a product of Boston. I always assumed that the Bulkie (pronounced Bool'- kee) was revered and enjoyed by deli fans everywhere. I stand corrected...But is a Kaiser really the same thing? I always thought that the Kaiser was a little different than a Bulkie... I thought the Kaiser was a tad softer and eggier...I have heard Bulkies referred to both as Bulkie Rolls and Bulkies-- and this goes back to the 1960s.Related potential Bostonianisms related to deli or Jewish food:The Boston lat-kee (latke, the Jewish potato pancake) is a lat-kah to New Yorkers. I think a lat-kee has infinitely more character.Dark rye-- black bread to New Yorkers.Light rye-- often known to New Yorkers as corn bread, for some unfathomable reason. Or just known as rye.I'll give New Yorkers a pass on the dark rye/light rye front, though, because you can get top-flight corned beef and, sometimes, pastrami, in New York City. I generally like Boston's version of tongue better, though...

Well, deli fans...I am shocked-- SHOCKED-- to discover that the Bulkie Roll is a product of Boston. I always assumed that the Bulkie (pronounced Bool'- kee) was revered and enjoyed by deli fans everywhere. I stand corrected...But is a Kaiser really the same thing? I always thought that the Kaiser was a little different than a Bulkie... I thought the Kaiser was a tad softer and eggier...I have heard Bulkies referred to both as Bulkie Rolls and Bulkies-- and this goes back to the 1960s.Related potential Bostonianisms related to deli or Jewish food:The Boston lat-kee (latke, the Jewish potato pancake) is a lat-kah to New Yorkers. I think a lat-kee has infinitely more character.Dark rye-- black bread to New Yorkers.Light rye-- often known to New Yorkers as corn bread, for some unfathomable reason. Or just known as rye.I'll give New Yorkers a pass on the dark rye/light rye front, though, because you can get top-flight corned beef and, sometimes, pastrami, in New York City. I generally like Boston's version of tongue better, though...

"sometimes served with chinese food." YES, but WHY???? I'm from AZ originally, but even my ahnt who's from Gahdnah hasn't ever heard of this silly practice. Why do they do this? I have friends all over the country, and I'm about sure Boston is the only place that gives you a little white roll with your Chinese takeout.

HI I GREW UP IN CHELSEA MA. ALSO LIVED IN RVRERE BEFORE MOVING TO FLORIDA IN 1989 I VISIT THE BOSTON AREA ABOUT TWICE A YEAR I ALWAYS LOOK FOR A GOOD BULKIE I WAS TOLD MANY YEARS AGO THAT BULKIE AND ROLL MEANT THE SAME THING I MISS THE GOOD BREAD OF THE OLD DAYS ESPECIALY THE GREEN AND FREEDMAN BAKERY IN BOSTON BYE FOR NOW JOHN

YEAH remember to say it boo key

Interestingly enough, I came across this website while EATING a bulkie! In Worcester, the best place to purchase bulkies is at Widoff's Bakery on Water Street, just off of Kelley Square. They are light, fluffy, buttery, and excellent for a sandwich. We used to have Lederman's Bakery on Water Street as well, and their bulkies tended to be not as light or fluffy- unfortunately, they closed down several years ago.

I never realized bulkie rolls were a Boston thing until today. I lived in Boston and Cambridge for several years and thought everyone knew what they were. But my family looked at me like I was nuts when I mentioned them today. I don't remember their being soft, though. They were kind of hard and tasteless. A friend of mine wanted to make up with her husband and thought she bought him a gorgeous torte at a French bakery in Newton. When he opened the box, there was a bulkie roll in it instead and he thought she was trying to make a statement. Needless to say, they didn't make up that night. For the record, I don't think most Californians know what they are.

TO All:Trying to track a SWEET bulkie recipe my grandmother made pre 1950's. She was Jewish from Lithuania raising her family in Roxbury. I mean REAL Roxbury, off Blue Hill Avenue near the former Benedict Fenwick school.The bulkie was shaped like a popover, but inside were a mixture of cinnamon, sugar and rehydrated raisins. The dough was a yeast dough and the mixture above was placed inside a square dough piece and the corners pinched together and the corners side face down in a muffin tin.Anybody please with a family recipe to match this one? Have looked for recipe since early 1960's.ThanksMike Becker

Yum! I like Piantedosi's best. And you're right, Kaiser rolls are softer and eggier. That's good too, but I like the plainer bulkie roll best for most sangwiches.

Mark?????

The name bulkie roll may come from the Polish word "bulki" which is just a generic word for bread. There are varieties of course, but when I think of bulkies I think of the great local stuff that's fluffy, but not too soft or chewie, and has a nice textured, flour covered crust.

My father used to also go down to Water St in Wustah on Sunday mornings to get fresh "bagels". For some reason "bagels" and "bulkies" were interchangeable back in the sixties. I don't think we actually had bagels in Wustah until the late eighties.

i thought people called those things bulkie rolls everywhere, i didnt even know that was just a boston thing

In New Jersey back in the 60's we bought all our Hard Rolls from a wonderful Jewish Bakery. Where oh where can I get a recipe for Hard Rolls? Please help.

The Chinese places serve small dinner rolls, not bulkies.The dinner rolls have a little shinier and harder crust.Bulkies are the best for cold cut sangies and I sure did miss them out West.Chinese w/o a dinner roll just doesn't seem right.Need to make a coupla little sangies with the boneless spareribs and lo mein.

Oh no - BAGELS were also on Water Street in the early 50s. Im in California now and what I wouldn't give to have a Water Street. Miss ALL THE FOOD really from east coast. Far better..............

Hey Everybody-I know I'm weighing in a little late on the bulkie discussion, but nothing - and I mean nothing- was better than a warm bulkie roll on a Sunday morning after 6 AM mass picked out of the big canvas bin at Widoff's bakery on Water St. in Worceater, Mass. By 7:30 AM everybody had stopped in to buy their supply - and nobody made at all the way home with the full dozen. By the way, I'm a New Englander and I aleays called light rye "corn."

I am a born and bred Yankee who went down to Water St in Worcester to buy my bulkies from the Jewish bakery. I wish I knew how to make them because I can't find any down here in Florida !Saw one recipe which has pumpernickel flour in it but that is not authentic.Arline

I am a born and bred Yankee who went down to Water St in Worcester to buy my bulkies from the Jewish bakery. I wish I knew how to make them because I can't find any down here in Florida !Saw one recipe which has pumpernickel flour in it but that is not authentic.Arline

"bulke" (pron. "bull-keh") is the Yiddish word for that type of roll. So Bulkie Roll is as redundant as "pizza pie".

Interesting and talk about bringing back some memories! I've lived in California now for 23 years however grew up in Worcester (pronounce "Wustah" to true New Englanders). The one memory I have is my dad and I every early Sunday morning heading down to Water St. I can remember driving down Water St. and smelling the boo-kee's (as we pronounced them) being baked.I agree....Widoff's Bakery had the very BEST! They smelt so good that my dad and I couldn't help ourselves and would eat one on the way home! Small but an awesome memory.

#1 - People call them bulike rolls, as they are often asked "what kind of bread to you want your sandwich on", Sub Roll, Bulkie Roll, Rye Bread etc. So it makes perfect sense that they call it that.#2 - They dont serve bulkie rolls with Chinese food. The rolls they give with Chinese food are MUCH smaller than bulkie rolls...more like dinner rolls.#3 - The reason they do this is lots of people order lobster sauce, beef with broccoli or other dishes with a brown sauce that is lovely to soak up with a nice roll.

You could go into Widoff's or Lederman's on Water Street in Worcester and get bulkies. It's a very important symbol of Worcester.When I visit former Worcester residents around the country, they often ask "Where's the boo-keys?" The stores on Water Street were mostly on by Jewish merchants. Their patrons were diverse though their was a large Polish population close by in the Ward St. area.
We always pronounced them boo-keys. It was always wise to ask for "hot" bookeys. "A half dozen hot bulkies with seeds please." Everyone got a least one in the car on the ride home. The street was cobblestone.

My Uncle owned a corner store, B & 4th Variety in Southie which had a small deli counter for sandwiches. I worked there starting when I was 12 through my early 20's (80's-90's). We had fresh Bulkie Rolls delivered everyday from a bakery in Dorchester. There was nothing like making a roast beef and cheese on a bulkie roll. Our most expensive sandwich was less than $4.00. Man I could go for one of those right about now.

I just picked up a dozen bulkies at Widoff's in Worcester. Still there and still great! Add me to the list who never knew the "boo-key" was regional.

I, too am a native Bostonian. I've endured decades of double takes from people when I ask for a frappe, a tonic, a spuckie or a bulkie roll.
I worked in a Jewish bakery as a teen, and they sold bulkies (we pronounced it boo-key) along with a wide assortment of Jewish and Eastern European breads. I'm sure the origin of the name comes from one of the Slavic countries. We Bostonians like to adapt our language to include newcomers to our city.
Related to that is the word "spuckie". If you lived in South Boston, you ordered a spuckie when you went to the local sub shop. I used the word with friends from Jamaica Plain one day and they all said "What's that?" I was mortified, and didn't use that word again for 20 years. Finally, one day I decided to google it. Turns out that "spuckie" is an Italian roll. I chuckled to think that the group that I was with that day was mostly of Italian decent and had no idea.