BS: Bagels

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 05:51 PM

Flora is a low fat margarine.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Bee
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 05:47 PM

Villan, here I would expect flora in this context to be, say, lettuce and other edible vegetation, but such things wouldn't soak in, so, is flora some kind of foreign margarine?

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Maryrrf
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 04:04 PM

I agree with RangerSteve - I have never found really good bagels outside of New York City or the immediate vicinity. I don't really know why, just that they don't seem to taste the same, or have the same consistency and texture.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Rasener
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:26 PM

I love bagels. I slice them in half and put them in the toaster.
When they are done, I slap flora on them whilst they are stil hot and let soke into the bagel.
Then I put Marmite on (Not too much - just enough to give it a nice flavour). They are lovely like that.

Another lovely one is to put the flora on, then put a slice of grilled bacon on then cold baked beans, then grilled tomatoes and finally a fried egg. It is a meal in a million.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Don Firth
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:25 PM

Bagels. I love 'em!

During the four+ years I worked at Boeing (sometimes referred to as Bill's Little Kite Factory), I discovered the hard way (Tums, Rolaids, Mylanta) not to get involved with the food service they had contracted. So I was "brown-bagging" it.

When I was making my lunches the night before (I had to drive thirty miles up the road and clock in at 7:00 a.m.—and that's just unnatural!), I discovered a number of happy combinations. One was that I got one of these small pre-cooked canned hams. I would split a couple of bagels, lather the bottom part with some good mustard and put a nice, thick slice of ham on it, then maybe add a slice of cheese, or a slice of onion, or both, and top it with the other half. Yummo!!

The fellow sitting at the drawing table next to mine was of the Jewish persuasion. When I noticed what I was eating, he commented, "Ham on a bagel!?? Firth, God's gonna get you for that!"

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:20 PM

Yes O.K would grant you that Steve but do people travel all over the US trying bagels to decide which are best?

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: RangerSteve
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 03:05 PM

Georgiansilver - I'm sure the Israeli bagels are exceptional, but we're being practical here. A trip to Israel for bagels is a little bit extravagant.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Bee
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 02:39 PM

I made egg bagels once. It was an onerous process, with the boiling, etc., but they were exceptionally good.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: fat B****rd
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 02:34 PM

Lox !! Are you still with us ?????

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Bill D
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 01:02 PM

I was informed the other day that real, traditional bagels are hard to find outside of New York, and that they are hard to chew.

I guess I prefer less traditional ones. Old teeth complain.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 12:57 PM

If a bagel didn't have the hole, to lessen the distance that the heat must penetrate to cook evenly all the way through during both the boiling and the baking, it would be a mass of raw yeasty putty in the center¹ - - - or would have a such a hard shell² it would require paving tools to break it open - - -

unless it was made so thin that it would be a Tortilla.

It is quietly rumored that some "commercial producers" omit the boiling. A young Jewish classmate explained, many years ago, that one should not openly accuse them of this, as a sacrilege of this order would demand a public stoning - - - hence it should be left unsaid.

¹ A "chewy" center is favored by many, but in a mediocre bagel it's common to find the center almost completely uncooked. People who've never had a proper bagel may develop a liking for the raw yeast flavor and tile grout texture.

² An excessively hard "shell" renders the product unfit for much of anything other than crushing for use as road gravel. Some like at least a "skin," but in families where there are elders lacking teeth a separate cooking of "soft-shells" may be appropriate.

Most commercial bagels should just be called donuts.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 12:32 PM

The concensus seems to suggest that the best bagels are made in the US.....What about those exceptional ones they make in Israel?

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: RangerSteve
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 12:26 PM

It's apparently very easy to make a bad bagel. I've found that the further you get from New York City, the worse they get, unless you can find a Jewish bagel store.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: EBarnacle
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 11:35 AM

Not at all, the best traditional bagel makers are still Kossar's, on Grand Street on the Lower East Side in NYC. They make only plain, onion and garlic. They are most famous, of course, for their bialies and onion disks [aka plaetzels].

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:40 AM

Quiz for you tennis afficienado folkies. Which tennis pros were known as the 'bagelboys?'

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:38 AM

Bagel bakers have a dilemma, whether to have a large hole or a small hole in their wares. Those who favor larger holes point out that it takes too much dough to fill the hole, whilst those, contrarywise, favoring small holes, contend that it takes too much dough to go around a larger hole. 'Tis a puzzlement.
BTW, there are only two types of real bagels, egg or plain...all the others are just fancy, circular breads for yuppies and gen-xers.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:38 AM

For breakfast, I love cranberry bagels, toasted and spread with peanut butter.

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: bobad
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:31 AM

There are bagels and then there are BAGELS. Any true connoisseur of the bagel knows that the holy grail of bagels is the Montreal bagel.
As a young lad I recall vendors displaying their bagels strung up through the holes.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Gizmo
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:21 AM

Most bagels you buy in the shop need to be reheated before eaten. I highly recommend slicing them in half then put them in the toaster.

While they heat, I cut some goats cheese, and some spring onions, and find the jar of mayonnaise.

When cooked/burnt I then smother it with mayonnaise cheese and spring onions.

I don't buy the plain ones, I get the raisin and cinnamon ones.

The plain ones are pointless waste of space. Especially the bit in the middle.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Scrump
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:17 AM

I don't like the holes - they're the blandest part.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Dazbo
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:12 AM

Perhaps you can buy the part of the bun removed to make a bagel like you can with polos.

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Jean(eanjay)
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 10:11 AM

I've tried to get into the spirit of bagels - people tell me they're delicious with this, that or the other on. I've tried various things but they just seem bland. Am I buying the wrong ones or am I doing something else wrong?

Subject: RE: BS: Bagels
From: Scrump
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 09:58 AM

Ah, but you pay extra for the hole. Think of how less fattening it is for you.

Subject: BS: Bagels
From: Dazbo
Date: 06 Feb 07 - 09:53 AM

What's the point of bagels? What use is a bun with a hole through the middle - everything falls through it.