History Bagels

[donna]

Bagels are a bread made from flour. They look like a doughnut but are made with yeast. They are also different from doughnut in that they are boiled before baked . They are sometimes called the cement doughnut. They are special type of Jewish food.

They are made from flour, yeast, salt and sweet types of spices. Flour makes them chewy. They are made more light with addition of eggs, milk and butter. They can be eaten for breakfast or as a snack.

When Polish Jews came to America they brought the "beugel" with them. Bakeries were founded in NYC in 1920s. The name later became bagel. Bagels represent the continuous cycle of life, without beginning and without end.

 

[lupaglupa]

They are sometimes called the cement doughnut

I worked at a bagel bakery/cafe when I was in high school. We had one regular customer who came in often but never got the bagels. One day I asked him why and he told me with great seriousness "Bagels go in but they never come out." Personally, I love them and even make them homemade sometimes. This was my last batch -

 

[donna]

Looks great. I had Everything bagel this morning.

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

Then there's the bialy, the bagel's cousin. Only baked, not pre boiled with a depression in the center filled with onion. Lovely.

 

[Reconstructed Rebel]

My vote for best bagel is cinnamon raisin

 

[A. Roy]

Looks great. I had Everything bagel this morning.

Me too! The only time I resort to toast is when the bagels have run out!
ARB

 

[FedericoFCavada]

My wife and I bake one of the remote Ashkenazi ancestors of bagels: The bialy.

Bialy (bread) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I have it that these were a speciality of the old community in Berdychiv, Ukraine as well as the "name-sake" of Bialystok in Poland.

 

[KianGaf]

I've never had a proper bagel tbh. Afaik they are a Jewish delicacy and we don't have a large Jewish community in these parts. I've tried store bought versions and I've always found them a bit doughy. If anyone can recommend a good place to try them in nyc I'd appreciate it.

 

[WScott]

Breakfast Bagel - egg, cheese, bacon strips on a sliced / toasted bagel. Had them for over 50 years and still love them.

 

[lupaglupa]

I've never had a proper bagel tbh. Afaik they are a Jewish delicacy and we don't have a large Jewish community in these parts. I've tried store bought versions and I've always found them a bit doughy. If anyone can recommend a good place to try them in nyc I'd appreciate it.

They should be a bit doughy, to be honest. Every New Yorker has their own place they think has THE BEST bagels. The best place I've had a bagel in the city is at Russ and Daughters - mostly because they have amazing smoked fish there.

 

[KianGaf]

They should be a bit doughy, to be honest. Every New Yorker has their own place they think has THE BEST bagels. The best place I've had a bagel in the city is at Russ and Daughters - mostly because they have amazing smoked fish there.

That place looks good, thank you for the recommendation. It's always best to judge an item on where it came from, then you can make an proper call on if you like it or not.

 

[Story]

I've never had a proper bagel tbh. Afaik they are a Jewish delicacy and we don't have a large Jewish community in these parts. I've tried store bought versions and I've always found them a bit doughy. If anyone can recommend a good place to try them in nyc I'd appreciate it.

Why limit yourself, when you can work your way threw a list?

The Best Bagels in New York City

The city’s top bagel spots keep evolving

ny.eater.com

 

[Story]

As good a study I've seen as any -

The bagel's known history goes back at least a good six centuries, and, in practice, probably more than that. While we know them in the here-and-now of 21st-century America, the bagel's likely rollout to the world probably began in Poland. In her excellent new book, The Bagel: the Surprising History of a Modest Bread, Maria Balinska shares a couple theories of their origin.

Balinska first suggests the possibility that they came East to Poland from Germany as part of a migration flow during the 14th century. At the time, pretzels (the thick bread of the German variety, not the American kind that comes in plastic bags) were making their way out of their original home in the monasteries and being made into readily available feast day bread. German immigrants, brought to Poland to help provide people power for building the economy (immigration was then encouraged, not discouraged), brought the pretzels with them. In Poland, that theory goes, the German breads morphed into a round roll with a hole in the middle that came to be known in Poland as an obwarzanek. Written records of them appear as early as the 14th century.

The Secret History of Bagels

Want to make the perfect bagel? It's all about understanding the heritage and tradition. Follow their centuries-old story across immigrant trails, ethnic strife, labor activism, and underground political movements. From 15th-century Poland to 21st-century New York, bagels have been through it all.

www.theatlantic.com

 

[KianGaf]

Why limit yourself, when you can work your way threw a list?

The Best Bagels in New York City

The city’s top bagel spots keep evolving

ny.eater.com

Thank you , Ill have a read through that list. Its turns out that Russ & Daughters is very close to Katz Deli which I was planning on visiting. I better not get too greedy with the Pastrami and leave room for a Bagel & Lox.

 

[lupaglupa]

Thank you , Ill have a read through that list. Its turns out that Russ & Daughters is very close to Katz Deli which I was planning on visiting. I better not get too greedy with the Pastrami and leave room for a Bagel & Lox.

If you are in that neighborhood visit the tenement museum! It's a great way to learn about NYC

 

[KianGaf]

How does a bialy differ to a bagel ?

 

[Tennessee Union Gal]

How does a bialy differ to a bagel ?

A bialy is only baked, not boiled first, and instead of a hole, has a depression in the middle with onion in it.

 

[KianGaf]

A bialy is only baked, not boiled first, and instead of a hole, has a depression in the middle with onion in it.

I would imagine a lot of these foods originated in Central & Eastern Europe. I've never seen them in them places on my travels there. I'd say this is due to the small Jewish community's in them countries these days due to historical events. I look forward to trying artisan versions when I'm back in the USA next month.

 

[Gary Morgan]

If you are in that neighborhood visit the tenement museum! It's a great way to learn about NYC

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum totally rocks, and very few people have heard about it. I went there on a field trip for teachers back in the summer of 2000. I totally second Lupaglupa's recommendation of it!