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World champion bagels!

A fine culinary guide by: Nick Greece

By KAVU

October 8^th, 2019

bagels!!

They are the finest dough product in our fair land.

While growing up on Long Island in New York, I was raised on a two-bagel-a-day diet. Whether eaten consecutively or spaced out over breakfast and a snack after school, a fresh hot bagel was a staple for an active growing boy.

Of all the foods in all the joints across this vast nation, there are very few undeniable world champions. Chicago and New York have legitimate claims to the best pizza, for example, but there is only one undeniable winner when it comes to bagels......

World champion bagels!

Since leaving New York, I have stumbled across bagels here and there, and to be honest they usually “do” in a pinch.......

I’ve heard many accounts of why New York bagels are so good. Every bagel-obsessed New Yorker seems to have his or her own opinion, most of which revolve around the water pumping through the old pipes of their great city being lower in calcium and magnesium than that in other metro water supplies. The overall false positive bagel hypothesis is that New York water is soft, which means the gluten in the dough is not strengthened, resulting in the bagel’s being “chewy” instead of “tough.” We all know for certain that hand rolled and boiled are musts for bagels to even get in the ball park.

But what else matters?

World champion bagels!

National Public Radio dedicated resources to unraveling this mystery and caught up with chef Richard Coppedge of the Culinary Institute of America. He explained that superior bagels are made from shaped dough that's first left to sit in a refrigerator for a couple of days. This process is called retarding, because the cooler temperatures slow down the activity of yeast in the dough as it rises. This longer, slower fermentation gives the microbes more time to generate tasty flavor compounds.

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

According to Coppedge, the key step to making a "true bagel" is boiling. Traditionally, Coppedge tells The Salt, the chilled dough rings are poached or boiled in a solution of water and malt barley for anywhere from 30 seconds to 3 minutes. This pre-gelatinizes the starch in the dough, locking the liquid inside and expanding the interior.

It's like flash-frying a steak before grilling it to seal in the juices. The boiling also thickens the crust, which Coppedge says …"is essential to produce a more 'chewy' bagel."

World champion bagels!

As to what I recommend...... I stick with the basics:

Poppy, Sesame, or Everything.

While New York broke into bagel factions when The Bagel Store in Williamsburg invented the rainbow bagel...... I say if you like the texture, who cares what color or topping floats your boat.

They have also come up with Frankenstein creations like the “cragel”, the croissant-bagel hybrid, which I have never tried, and as a purist don’t instinctively trust.

To me, the next most significant choices revolve around freshness and what you put between the two halves.

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

One way to determine if you are in a legit bagel establishment is a case full of every conceivable cream cheese flavors. Walnut, raisin, veggie, lox, strawberry, and the list goes on and on. Another big clue is seeing whole fish (usually smoked) in the case. That is a GOOD sign. For great lox, I only do tomato, capers, cream cheese, and onion.

......But to each their own.

Once you have scored your bagels, what do you do? First things first, ask the bagel joint for plastic bags. As soon as I get the bagels and find a free space, I transfer them from the paper bag to plastic to maintain their moisture integrity. Right after buying my bagels, I often get on a plane to return to California. And as soon as I’m home, like the very minute I step into my house, I slice the bagels, put them in zip-lock bags, and pop them in the freezer. This gives me the option of having fresh-toasted bagels for months!

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

World champion bagels!

want to witness the creation of a perfect bagel?

If you're in the great city of New York, the first link below is a good primer for where to start your search: Good luck and KAVU days!

The absolute best Bagel shops in New York City

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