Welcome to Off the Eaten Path, a collection the place our Take a look at Kitchen creator Noah Tanen dives deep into regional recipes. Subsequent up? New York bagels.
I’m simply going to say it: New York Metropolis has the very best bagels in America, and doubtless on the earth. Absolutely the biggest, contemporary out of the wood-fired oven at St. Viateur in Montreal come shut, however what New York has over its Canadian counterpart is a far wider availability of fine bagels virtually wherever. I’d go so far as to say that the overwhelming majority in New York are, if not nice, fairly good.
Anybody who has lived wherever else will let you know that this isn’t typical. The people data used to elucidate the focus of top of the range bagels has turn out to be gospel: it’s all concerning the water, that there’s one thing concerning the pH or the mineral content material in NYC faucet water that causes town’s dough to be intangibly superior.
I’ve all the time been skeptical of this notion, however a little analysis reveals it’s merely not true. America’s Take a look at Kitchen carried out a style take a look at, pitting bagels made with each Boston and New York Metropolis municipal water in opposition to one another. The outcomes amongst tasters confirmed the 2 batches to be nearly indistinguishable.
Picture by Noah Tanen
So what really makes them higher in New York? For my part, it’s the individuals. Bagels arrived in New York Metropolis by the use of Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants from Poland within the late 1800s, and ever since, New Yorkers have been perfecting the craft of bagel rolling and boiling, holding on fiercely to tried and true methods and recipes even within the trendy period.
In any case, this type of passionate native tradition is what makes regional meals particular. When you’ve gotten a historical past spanning centuries and generations of individuals making the identical meals, typically in competitors with each other, it’s that delight and native affiliation which produces greatness. It’s why Philadelphia makes the very best cheesesteaks, Texas has the very best barbecue, and why New York Metropolis makes the best bagels.
Even if you happen to’re not in or from New York Metropolis, you may make do-it-yourself bagels your self. I’ll be making an attempt my hand as effectively. Keep tuned to our Instagram for an upcoming episode of Noah Tackles: Bagels coming subsequent week.
Have you ever ever made bagels from scratch? Tell us within the feedback!
