I'm pretty sure we get good steak in New Zealand. At least it's from proper cows who wandered around fields eating ryegrass and clover. Steak should be lean and rare as far as I'm concerned. Marbling is gross, fat is something to be cut off (although when my grandfather was alive, we all gave ours to him and he ate the lot).
I doubt I've ever had a proper bagel though. Despite my name I've experienced little of Polish Jewish culture. I hope that one day I'll experience New York.
What a great post! Anything to do with bagels instantly captures my attention. I also enjoyed the link to Café Anne's story about the couple walking marathon distances to sample bagels, as well as your delightful cookie tale. (By the way, did you include recipes in that one? If so, I must've missed it.) I would have liked to take a lesson from your mother on turning out uniform baked goods--or from you on precise measurements! I never manage to make anything exactly the same, even when I try.
My husband grew up in Manhattan, and we've had some mighty fine bagels on our visits to NYC, especially at a place called Tal Bagels. But there really are some excellent bagel places in L.A., including one right in our neighborhood and another, Courage Bagels, that has gotten raves--even from New York Times critics. Of course bagels are best eaten fresh out of the oven, but we always buy extra, then slice and freeze them to toast later--and I think they're still pretty great. I've also made bagels myself. After reading this piece, I'm ready to make another batch--or taste-test a few in New York! BTW, we also ate seeded rye bread and challah at our house when we were growing up! My immigrant parents were pretty finicky about their bread.
Great piece. I love when you invoke your knowledge of history especially when it involves food. I continue to live vicariously thru bagel eaters. Having lived in NYC for 7 years H and H bagels was the best bagel maker anywhere. This was the 1980s and because I have been out of the bagel loop I have no idea who tops the list these days.
I'm not the food police! 👮♂️ Mark, great article and I read your link to the NYC couple. That article proves there is a romantic match out there for everyone. Those 2 were made for each other. Can you imagine a dating app : looking for someone who wants to walk 20+ miles a day ...
My first wife was from NYC and introduced me to real NY bagels. Two important things I learned from her- you never reheat a bagel in the microwave ( makes it tough) and you can wet a bagel briefly with water under faucet, shake off excess water and then put it straight in the toaster oven so it doesn't dry out when reheating. Since you didn't ask , My favorite is a sesame bagel and number 2 is an onion bagel. I always slice mine in half, and when possible put cream cheese on it ....Next time do a survey on favorite bagel flavors and you will get over 1.2k responses!
I grew up in a tiny Massachusetts town, and didn't meet bagels until I went away to college - I discovered them at a little privately owned place imaginatively named "The Bagel Deli" and it was love at first bite! Alas, now I live in a tiny New Hampshire town - a beautiful, wonderful place, but no bagels in sight... Darn it, your story has reawoken my bagel love! Maybe it's time to dig out a recipe... 😊
I'm not qualified to vote on the best steak because I don't eat the stuff, so I picked "Something Else." 🐂
Thanks for the shoutout and kind words Mark! I had no idea I'd written so much about bagels, but I suppose it really does come with the territory.
Now I want to try an obwarzanek!
Sorry for the delayed reply.
I'm pretty sure we get good steak in New Zealand. At least it's from proper cows who wandered around fields eating ryegrass and clover. Steak should be lean and rare as far as I'm concerned. Marbling is gross, fat is something to be cut off (although when my grandfather was alive, we all gave ours to him and he ate the lot).
I doubt I've ever had a proper bagel though. Despite my name I've experienced little of Polish Jewish culture. I hope that one day I'll experience New York.
What a great post! Anything to do with bagels instantly captures my attention. I also enjoyed the link to Café Anne's story about the couple walking marathon distances to sample bagels, as well as your delightful cookie tale. (By the way, did you include recipes in that one? If so, I must've missed it.) I would have liked to take a lesson from your mother on turning out uniform baked goods--or from you on precise measurements! I never manage to make anything exactly the same, even when I try.
My husband grew up in Manhattan, and we've had some mighty fine bagels on our visits to NYC, especially at a place called Tal Bagels. But there really are some excellent bagel places in L.A., including one right in our neighborhood and another, Courage Bagels, that has gotten raves--even from New York Times critics. Of course bagels are best eaten fresh out of the oven, but we always buy extra, then slice and freeze them to toast later--and I think they're still pretty great. I've also made bagels myself. After reading this piece, I'm ready to make another batch--or taste-test a few in New York! BTW, we also ate seeded rye bread and challah at our house when we were growing up! My immigrant parents were pretty finicky about their bread.
Great piece. I love when you invoke your knowledge of history especially when it involves food. I continue to live vicariously thru bagel eaters. Having lived in NYC for 7 years H and H bagels was the best bagel maker anywhere. This was the 1980s and because I have been out of the bagel loop I have no idea who tops the list these days.
I'm not the food police! 👮♂️ Mark, great article and I read your link to the NYC couple. That article proves there is a romantic match out there for everyone. Those 2 were made for each other. Can you imagine a dating app : looking for someone who wants to walk 20+ miles a day ...
I was taught that one should not eat bagels or pizza in a corn state.
My first wife was from NYC and introduced me to real NY bagels. Two important things I learned from her- you never reheat a bagel in the microwave ( makes it tough) and you can wet a bagel briefly with water under faucet, shake off excess water and then put it straight in the toaster oven so it doesn't dry out when reheating. Since you didn't ask , My favorite is a sesame bagel and number 2 is an onion bagel. I always slice mine in half, and when possible put cream cheese on it ....Next time do a survey on favorite bagel flavors and you will get over 1.2k responses!
Oh, I love it when you talk about food!
I grew up in a tiny Massachusetts town, and didn't meet bagels until I went away to college - I discovered them at a little privately owned place imaginatively named "The Bagel Deli" and it was love at first bite! Alas, now I live in a tiny New Hampshire town - a beautiful, wonderful place, but no bagels in sight... Darn it, your story has reawoken my bagel love! Maybe it's time to dig out a recipe... 😊
I'm not qualified to vote on the best steak because I don't eat the stuff, so I picked "Something Else." 🐂