Hooked on Bagels

There was a survey taken recently, and published hither and thither, about the very best bagels in and around New York City. I was pleased to see that my favorite bagel source in Brooklyn was right up there in the top five (I think it came in second actually…a robbery worth reporting to the deli-police). It’s also a damn good delicatessen in and of itself but it is their bagels that give it it’s lustre. I’m lusting after one as we speak and may have to give in and hike over there right now.

What makes a good bagel, and why are the ones in NYC so much better than elsewhere? It’s not proven but conventional wisdom has it that it’s our water. Not that it’s any more pure or better than anywhere else, I guess it’s based on the make-up of it. Certain amounts of minerals and chemicals, etc. gives our water a really good taste so it’s logical our bagels would reflect that since what bagels are, basically, is boiled dough. Rings of hand-rolled dough dropped in boiling water. That’s how you cook them but a basic bread-recipe and the addition of a variety of seeds and stuff as toppings is what gives them their individual kick.

When I have guests and/or company I usually try to stock in a small supply, or else we all traipse up to Terrace Bagels for take-out or, even, eat-in. Many of my friends/family have made a stop there on their way out of town, to take home a baker’s dozen. It’s the thing to do and a nice homey memory of Brooklyn.

My favorite bagel is sesame seed. I like many of the other varieties also, but tend to avoid the sweet ones. A toasted sesame seed bagel, sometimes still cook-pot warm , topped with cream cheese (plain is good; but scallion is great) and it’s a nosh fit for a king. It’s all individual taste, of course, and sometimes individual pretension. It’s like pizza; the fancier it gets the more unbagel-like it becomes.