One of my food peeves is that you can’t really find proper bagels in London. But the thing is, everyone seems to think proper bagels are something different. To a NY-er like me, nothing else tastes the same. Still, a guy sitting next to Leah and I at la bagel delight in Brooklyn a few weeks ago pointed out that although he is a New Yorker, he loves Montreal bagels (unsalty and a whole different dough) the best. Other people – myself included – will never think of a ‘non-NY style’ bagel as the ‘right’ kind.
that's a whole tray of unbaked bagels coming in
Anyway, although I can pontificate on the subject of bagels for a looong time, I asked Leah, a much more seasoned expert, to do a guest post! (god, this is making me hungry).
When it comes to bagels a lot of things are a matter of preference. For example, I like bagels that are bigger and chewier on the inside. I like my bagels with a nice crust but I hate when they are too hard on the outside and dense on the inside – think Brueggers Bagels or the Bagel Hole in Park Slope. This brings me to the second most important thing about a bagel – the toppings and fillings. I’m a big fan of the classic sesame bagel toasted medium to dark with a little bit of butter or margarine, put on quickly so it melts in. I also like this simple bagel option with an everything bagel but sometimes the garlic or onion are just too much. When I’m in the mood for something heartier, or at a traditional Jewish family event, I go for the classic bagel with lox. If you want to do it right, the bagel should be warm, ideally fresh out of the oven or lightly toasted, with cream cheese (plain or scallion in my opinion) lox, sliced tomato, sliced Bermuda onion, and capers (see above!). This concoction is my idea of comfort food. As a fellow bagel lover put it when I didn’t know what to say. “Just say this was delicious. It made me want to crawl inside myself….or a bagel.”
Thanks, Leah! I love the lox sensation pictured above but I’m also a simple gal who would, on a daily basis, go for cinnamon-raisin with butter & honey or egg bagels (I miss those, a lot) from David’s Bagels plain or with a little cream cheese.
I got really excited seeing all those bagels together:
Toasted sesame bagel with plain cream cheese, lox, tomatoes, onions, capers and maybe a little thinly sliced cucumber is sheer perfection. Makes me want to crawl inside a bagel for sure.
mmmm good morning:) haha thanks for making me hungry.
Mmmmm. I’m hungry everytime I see this post. I forgot to mention bagel lingo in the post. I walked into la bagel delight the other day and ordered “an everything bagel scooped out and toasted with a little bit of butter” and the belgian woman next to me looked confused and asked me and the cashier what I had just said. We explained each step of my order and she was amused.
Montreal bagels all the way! They are by far the world’s best bagels! My favorite bagel place in Montreal is Mount Royal Bakery. They are home to Montreal’s most amazing, mouth watering bagel! They ship to anywhere, call their toll free # (1-877-LEBAGEL)
Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve never been but am eager to go : ) Happy to have you reading!