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What Makes a Good Bagel
Everyone has a favorite
By Elinor Spokes
There was a time, believe it or not, when bagels were not ubiquitous and were solely identified as an ethnic food.
Available in Jewish bakeries, the doughy-in-the-middle, crusty-on-the-outside, round breads were, then as now, served with smoked fish, cream cheese and other delicacies.
Now, bagels are truly universal, available everywhere from fast-food establishments to major chain supermarkets, in addition to bagel shops. The only bread that is boiled before it is baked, bagels come in a variety of flavors, satisfying the diverse tastes of their adoring public.
In The Beginning
There are many theories on the genesis of the bagel, and some suggest they date from the Roman period. According to the Einstein Brothers’ Bagels Web site, the bagel can be traced to to a Jewish baker in Austria who, in the late 1600s, created a special bread roll to show his gratitude to the king of Poland for protecting his countrymen from Turkish invaders. The round shape of the bread was chosen to replicate the shape of the riding stirrup, bugel in German, honoring the king’s love of riding. The popularity of the bread grew and its consumption spread through Eastern Europe; bagels were used as gifts for women in childbirth, as teething rings for infants and were sold on strings as good-luck charms.
When Eastern European Jews arrived in North America at the turn of the 20th century they brought bagels. In cities in both Canada and the United States, specifically Toronto and New York, bagel bakeries proliferated.
In 1927, Polish immigrant Henry Lender founded one of the first bagel bakeries in the nation outside of New York City, in New Haven, Conn. By 1955, Lender’s business had expanded way beyond the Jewish community and the company began packaging their bagels for distribution to supermarkets nationally. Ultimately, Lender’s became the first brand of bagels available in frozen, refrigerated and fresh categories. Today, for many people across the country, the name Lender’s is synonymous with bagels.
A Baltimore Favorite
But for many Baltimore families, the best bagels are not the mass-produced packaged kind, but those that are sold at specialty stores in their neighborhoods, baked fresh and eaten just out of the oven.
For the Rubin Family of Towson, the fifteen-minute walk from their home to Towson Hot Bagels is a treat. For this busy family with a three-year-old and one-year-old twins, the leisurely stroll to THB is a weekend highlight.
A hang-out for many Towson University students, THB makes their bagels fresh every morning. Ella, 3, loves her bagels toasted with cream cheese or melted cheese and butter. Her mother, Andrea, confesses that Ella is a “carb junkie” and that often a bagel is the only food her daughter will eat for breakfast. Mini bagel sandwiches with turkey or cream cheese are the perfect size for Ella’s summer camp lunches, she adds.
Rubin recalls that Ella was literally raised on bagels. Her earliest reading materials were chunky, cardboard picture books with photos of bagels used to illustrate numeric values and colors.
Born in Toronto but raised in Miami, Rubin often longs for the bagel bakeries in those cities, which she claims have better bagels. For those in the Miami area, she says that her top choice is The Bagel Emporium, across from the University of Miami. “There are many more flavors of bagels and more varieties of cream cheeses to go with them,” she adds.
Greg’s Bagels in Belvedere Square is a favorite destination of the Borden Family of Guilford. Although three-year-old Emma Borden’s favorite food is chocolate chip cookies, bagels are her breakfast food of choice, with a little salmon and tomato and no cream cheese, please. Her 14-month-old brother Ian likes to hold on to bagels and gnaw them to sooth his sore gums, as he is teething.
Both children, says their father Adam Borden, love to eat bagels because they require no utensils. He likes Greg’s because they are slightly smaller than most and are subtly sweeter and not too crusty. Having grown up in Roland Park, Adam Borden’s family would travel to Pikesville’s Edmart for their bagels, vegetable cream cheeses and sweet muenster cheese.
At Greg’s, Emma enjoys the sesame and poppy bagels. Emma’s mother Meredith likes to squeeze lemon juice on the bagel just after it has been toasted, then spread cream cheese on it and top that with lox.
“The timing of this is very important because if you wait too long between the lemon juice and the cream cheese, the bagel can become soggy, which defeats the purpose of the toasting,” says Adam Borden.
Randy Getz reflects that growing up in Bel Air, where there were no bagels, meant traveling to Pikeville to The Bagel Shoppe on Reisterstown Road for his bagel fix. Now living in Pikesville with his wife Stacey and their four children, they go to Goldberg’s New York Bagels for their doughy supply. Poppy seed and plain bagels are the family favorites.
Eli, 8, prefers a slice of cheddar cheese with butter on a toasted bagel, whereas twin sister Sophie likes her bagel micro-waved to warm and then smeared with cream cheese or butter. Five-year-old sister Hannah likes plain bagels, but has her own distinct style for eating them: She scoops out the dough in the middle and then tops it with cream cheese or butter. Two-year-old Noah, meanwhile, succumbs to the power of suggestion.
“Whenever he sees someone eating a bagel,” says Stacey Getz, “he has to have one.”
When traveling to New York City, the Getz family loves Ess-a-Bagels on 21st Street and 1st Avenue (and another location on the Upper East Side). Both Getz parents agree that the bagels there are much fuller, although a bit harder to chew.
Taste Test
Baltimore has a plethora of bagel shops and everyone seems to have their favorite.
Recently, the staff at the Baltimore Jewish Times decided to try a number of these doughy delights and rate their favorites.
We tasted five plain bagels, and rated them on appearance, texture and flavor, both plain and with a shmear of cream cheese. When asked to pick a favorite, it seemed as if each one received at least one vote.There were no overwhelming winners.
1. Courtney’s Bagels and Deli
Owings Mills, Md.
“The right combination of soft and chewy. This reminds me of childhood and family.”
“It’s hard to put my finger on. I just know it’s right.”
2. Goldberg’s New York Bagels
Pikesville, Md.
“Soft and doughy.”
“Nice hint of sweetness.” With the cream cheese, “it melts together well in the mouth.”
“Overall, this is the bagel I’d go back for.”
3. Roland Park Bagel Company
Roland Park, Md.
“More like a doughy baguette than the others. The cream cheese gives this bagel the perfect compliment in taste and texture.”
“A little light, but the lightness brings out the cream cheese flavor.”
4. Quarry Bagel and Cafe
Pikesville, Md.
“Nice hard crust. Cream cheese helps the flavor.”
“Good tang”
“A nice handsome bagel.”
5. Towson Hot Bagels
Towson, Md., and Canton, Md.
“Good looking bagel.”
“A little on the bready size.”
— Rochelle Eisenberg
Photos by Justin Tsucalas
Emma Borden enjoys the perfect breakfast — a bagel without cream cheese: just salmon and tomato.
Andrea Rubin says that bagels are often the only food her daughter Ella will eat for breakfast.
Even baby Ian (left) is a bagel fan. The Borden family: Ian, Adam, Meredith and Emma enjoy a bagel meal.
