How do you judge what makes for a truly great bagel?
I have my criteria. You have your criteria. But is there a consensus on how to describe the attributes of a great bagel?
Before I headed out on this Great Midwest Bagel quest, if someone asked me what makes something a good bagel I would say that it needs to be boiled. I knew this to be true and that it was key in some way to a bagel having a crisp exterior. This initial crispness when you first bite into a bagel, the almost crackly sound of the bite, is really of the utmost importance to me. I do have a thing for crispy food in general. I would happily split a pizza with my husband by giving him the bottom two-thirds of the slice if I could have the crust with just a little bit of the cheesy part right under it. Any time something is slightly burned, the people who know me well pass that piece of the food in my direction. I don’t want to eat a soft roll under any circumstance. Which I have been told is a bit of a weird idiosyncrasy on my part, but this is not idiosyncratic when it comes to the bagel, a bagel simply must have a crisp exterior. But a great bagel is more than a crisp exterior, it has a flavorful flavor, and has an ineffable chewiness to it that does not veer into doughiness. But I am prone to self doubt, and started to worry that maybe I am a bit too weird about bread crispiness and wanted to hear from my Jewish bagel-loving friends how they described a great bagel. So I made a Google survey with a whole bunch of questions and found the confirmation I was looking for on the proper attributes of the bagel.
And the survey said:
“Crispy, not sure of the word - not crunchy, not hard, but the outer part is shell-ish. Inside is chewy, but not too chewy.” “Flavor, shiny crisp crust, soft interior.” “(1) dense, not fluffy. (2) decent outer "crust" again, not fluffy (3) flavor.” “The real attribute of an excellent bagel is its texture: very slightly crispy that, after the first bite, gives way to chewiness.” “Crispy outside, chewy inside. Good flavor.” “A chew that imparts flavor as well as a textural memory. A bite-crispy surface with a welcoming interior.” “Dense and chewy inside, crisp outside, not fluffy.” “Shiney and crunchy on the outside, chewy, but cooked well on the inside.”
My council of experts said basically the same thing I had said, giving me the confidence to proclaim that my opinion on a proper bagel is the correct opinion. A bagel simply must have a crisp exterior. But a great bagel is more than a crisp exterior, it has a flavorful flavor, and has an ineffable kind of chewiness to it that does not veer into doughiness.
On the ground bagel reporting
An audio snippet of Jenny and I and my daughter sitting in a bagel shop parking lot in Minneapolis tasting bagels and describing whether it is a good bagel or not.
What is your description?
Do you have strong opinions on how to describe a great bagel? Please share it with my…I would love to hear your description.