Finding good bagels outside of New York is impossible, and here’s why.

[elleng]

http://grist.org/list/this-is-why-we-cant-have-nice-bagels-on-the-west-coast/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=update

I'll be 'back home' sometime soon, so will be able to affirm this fact!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. I hate to play to stereotypes, but...

the best bagels I've ever had were sent to me by a Jewish woman from NYC who was my liaison with one of our client companies when I was in IT.

[elleng]

5. Nothing wrong with stereotypes, Erich;

sometimes/often they're accurate!

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

8. When she'd send them to me, I literally could not stop eating

until I'd finished the entire bag. (She sent a dozen mini-bagels a couple of times.)

If I could find anywhere around here that came even close to matching those little bites of heaven, I'd be eating bagels daily. As it is, I basically don't eat them at all, because they're always so disappointing in comparison.

[HassleCat]

2. Atmosphere

I have run into good bagels on the west coast. They can be found anywhere there is a deli run by an elderly Jewish couple who moved from NYC to Seattle or Portland 30 years ago. Of course, they can only do so much when it comes to creating the appropriate NYC atmosphere, but the bagels are still good.

[customerserviceguy]

10. People here tell me its the local water

but I tend to believe that it is skill, and your story backs my belief. I've been all over this country, and I've had both very good and very mediocre pizza and craft brewed beers, too, and they both have water at the heart of their composition.

[hlthe2b]

3. Enjoy.... Sure seems like it could be replicated but time/profit wins out elsewhere I guess.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. A family from Manhattan moved here to Raleigh - their bagels are really excellent

they have a whole deli, cookies and other pastry, you name it - just a small place less than a mile from where I live. Lucky me!

[elleng]

6. VERY lucky you!

[Warpy]

7. Boston also had good bagels.

Outside NYC or Boston, the closest you can come to a real bagel is a frozen Lender's bagel. All the rest are soft rolls that sort of look like bagels. A real bagel is a cement doughnut. There is no comparison with "bagels" you get outside the northeast corridor.

[brush]

9. It's all about the boiling

I'm a transplanted New Yorker living in Las Vegas and so many places here sell bread donuts and call them bagels. Very disappointing, and many here don't even know that they're not real bagels.

[justhanginon]

11. I gave up and now make my own. I got some good yeast and malt powder from King Arthurs and

even though they are a pain in the you know what and take forever they sure are tasty still warm out of the oven and smeared with a little, Okay, a lot of cream cheese. I like them them with everything baked on them. Seeds, onions and garlic. I want to try and make some Bialy's although I've never tasted them they sound really good.

[elleng]

12. Do you boil them?

Bialy's are just 'ok,' imo, but let us know how it goes!

[justhanginon]

13. Yes, I boil them with a little baking soda in the water. I also

give them an overnight rise in the fridge. they turn out pretty chewy, not like the store bakery bagels that seem more like bread with a bagel shape and toppings. Alas, summer is almost here and for obvious reasons I tend to cut way back on the oven usage in hot weather. Waistline could use a break also. )

[elleng]

14. I'm IMPRESSED, justhangingon!

Call me in October, I'll be there!!!

[justhanginon]

16. I'll put you on the list. I really do love to bake and cook in general. The thing I missed

most on retirement was taking in goodies every monday morning. It sure does make people smile although towards the end our office was getting too large and it was double batches which is both expensive and time consuming.
Now I am off to finish baking some chocolate chip cookies for a friend who did me a favor last week. Sure smells good in here.

[elleng]

17. Sounds wonderful!

[longship]

15. Then there's the New York Bagel Baking Company.

On Schaefer Street (just north of Seven Mile Road) in Detroit. Undoubtedly it is long gone now, but in my youth my family would often drop by on Sundays after church (UCC, the Congregational church). We'd load up with freshly baked, hot bagels. Sometimes, but rarely, we would also stop by Sol's Deli on Six Mile Road to pick up some Nova Scotia lox -- that was a real treat.

But those bagels were so good that the five of us would gobble more than one apiece in the car before we got home, at least unless we also had lox. Then, we might eat only one in the car, a preview of the bagel, lox, and cream cheese pleasures when we got home.

I lived in New York City for a short period in 1970 and visited there many times in that decade. There was a bagel shop on the west side of Broadway in the 60's (or was it 70's) that made the best bagels I have ever had. I cannot remember the name of the shop, but they really set the standard. And of course, they were also hot out of the oven.

R&K for bringing back some great memories.