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National Bagel and Lox Day

Food · February 9

A food day for the bagel with lox: a chewy ring of bread, cream cheese, thin slices of cured salmon and whatever toppings you like best.

National Bagel and Lox Day falls on Tuesday, February 9, 2027. That is 105 days away.

Lox is salmon cured in salt, sliced so thin you can almost read through it. Laid over cream cheese on a split bagel, it becomes one of the most familiar breakfasts in American delis.

The bagel matters as much as the fish. A good one is boiled briefly before baking, which gives it a shiny, slightly tough crust and a dense, chewy middle. Plain, sesame, poppy seed and everything bagels are the usual partners, since sweeter flavors tend to argue with the salmon.

Then come the extras. Capers, thin rings of red onion, slices of tomato and a few sprigs of dill are common, and some people add cucumber or a squeeze of lemon. The cream cheese works as glue and as a cool, mild layer between the bread and the salt. Proportions are personal. Some people want a thin smear and a heap of fish, others the reverse, and deli counters have heard every version.

Strictly speaking, lox is cured rather than smoked, and the smoked salmon many shops sell under the same name is a close cousin. Both taste silky and salty, and both fold neatly onto a bagel half. Most people eat it open faced, one half at a time, which keeps the capers from rolling away.

Ways to celebrate

• Build a bagel with cream cheese, lox, capers, red onion and dill.
• Visit a local deli and order a bagel with lox.
• Try lox on a different bagel flavor than usual.
• Set out toppings and let everyone assemble their own at breakfast.
• Compare cured lox with smoked salmon side by side.

Dates

All national days on February 9

Also on February 9

• Mardi Gras
• National Pizza Day
• Pączki Day
• Read in the Bathtub Day

Categories: Food days