Hello!
Since I head out everyday onto the busy streets of New York, I thought I would give you a a refresher on the history and creation of a New York bagel. These little pieces of soft dough have so much love to give! There's a bagel deli on every corner in this city. It's hard not to pay homage to such a rotund circle of dough. I was not really aware of the different ingredients and makeup of bagels from all over the world. Here's a little history course: Thousands of Eastern European Jews immigrated to The United States in 1880. They brought with them a cherished recipe to create the bagel. Large cities that had a increased Jewish population such as Chicago and New York, soon became associated with the bagel. It wasn't until the 1960s when bagel production increased dramatically, that the machine produced hundreds of bagels per hour. In the 80s, people were consuming 1 bagel per month. By the mid 90s, consumption jumped from one bagel a month, to one bagel every two weeks!
There are two distinct North American bagels. The Montreal style which contains malt and sugar but no salt. It usually has the poppy or sesame seeds on the surface. It's boiled in a honey sweet water before it it transferred to the wood burning fire. The New York Style bagel contains salt and malt and is boiled in water before being baked in an oven. The New York bagel has a puffy, soft, crust, (like a pretzel), whereas the Montreal is smaller sweeter and crunchier. The popular bagel around this area is of course the lox (salmon) and cream cheese. The NY Deli's have large bowls filled with cream cheese of every flavor. Can I just get a schmear? My taste buds are quite simple, I love a good everything bagel toasted, with plain cream cheese. Michael loves his breakfast bagels. Yum! Here's some great NY Deli's that make some noteworthy bagels! I love bagels!
Best NYC Bagel:
http://www.restaurantsinyc.com/best-bagels-in-new-york-city
