First of all: sorry for the lack of recent posts. Running a business is hard work, and I have managed to find myself in ten different states in the past three months. But I am making an appearance to talk a little bit about bagels.
A friend recently forwarded me a podcast, which I will not mention, about bagels. The podcast was about the “renaissance” in bagels that was…bringing back some sort of fallen grandeur to the bagel. Think sourdough bagels, bagels made “in the old fashioned way,” by small producers. The person in question was upset that the mentions of Jews were few and far between, but also that they were not highlighting how grocery store bagels were diluting the bagel, somehow, and that the podcast did not feature bakers in New York, but rather, in California.
I find these arguments, from both the podcast and the complainer, to be somewhere between mind-numbingly boring and ridiculous. Yes, bagels may be Jewish in origin, though there seems to be a lot of muddiness around this in the research. We do know they came to North America through Jewish communities. Given everything, though, I do not blame the podcaster for wanting to not mention Jews too much. The coffeeshop and grocery store bagels are often what people realistically have access to. Sometimes it is what they like. And honestly, a lot of these ideas about bagels are more an expression of a consumer’s status rather than any real question of taste. That is the case with a lot of artisan foods nowadays.
In any case, a fancy bagel that “follows the rules” does not mean that it is a good bagel. Bakeries outside of New York and Montreal are perfectly capable of making an excellent bagel, and bakeries in those cities can make terrible bagels, and often do. (New York, especially.) And many of the best bagels are those plain bagels from very ordinary shops. Many of the fancy bagels that claim authenticity (which is bullshit) are, honestly, terrible. I would rather have a supermarket bagel (which are not always terrible!).
And what makes a good bagel is partly up to you. I have a few criteria that I will discuss in a moment. These are not objective. I like bagels that are like the bagels I grew up with in the New York area, specifically from two very ordinary bagel shops. My criteria are based on the fact that I tend to not put much cream cheese on a bagel, as well. But you do you. You can find good bagels in many places. If you like these fancy bagels, good for you! If you want a supermarket bagel, good for you!
As it happens, the two best bagels I have had in recent years are not ones I had on visits back home to New York. Instead, they are: the Black Russian rye bagels at Goldberg’s in Silver Spring, MD, and the onion bagel at Marx Bagels in Blue Ash, OH. Both make spectacular bagels that meet what I want in a New York-style bagel: a good chew, a certain moreish texture, a slight crust, and can be toasted or not to equal deliciousness. If you are in the DC or Cincinnati areas, check these places out.
