Hoo boy, there are a lot of notes for this one, so you might want to skim ahead to the end first. It’s a good thing that they are so much work to make, since otherwise they could easily be the undoing of my Atkins program.Īdpated from The Bread Baker’s Apprentice Having said all this, I just want you to know that your bagels last night were the closest thing I have ever had to the original bagels of my childhood. The Israeli bagels were large and bready … good, but just not bagels.
I do remember having bagels in Israel on one of my trips, but they were nothing like the bagels in 1940’s NYC. If this is true, it’s possible that the memory of what bagels were was lost in that generation … a reason why Zaro’s bagels today are nothing like the East River bagels of yesterday. He didn’t have children back then as well as I can remember, so his children would also be about 10 years younger than I am. Since Phil Zaro was about 25 years older than I am, it is likely that his stores are now run by his children or grandchildren. (An aside: I think “bialys” are named after the town Bialistok (sp?) in Poland.) One who was old enough, would probably say that bagels from THE East River bagel bakery had no resemblance to the bagels in eastern Europe where they probably originated.
#4 pics 1 word 5 letters bagel how to#
Everyone thought they knew how to make bagels (pizza) and no one had the memory of what they really were like originally. I imagine it was like the proliferation of pizza joints. Then, sometime in the 50’s people started opening bagel shops and bagels became available 365 days a year. The bialys sold today are more like what we then called “onion rolls.” More like an intermediate between today’s bagels and bialys. The bagels were more chewy than bagels today (which are very bready.) They were sort of crisp on the outside, and soft but chewy on the inside. None of this cranberry, raisin, chocolate chip stuff. There were only two kinds of bagels, plain and egg. There was real consistency in bagels then … no surprise since they all came from the same place. The local retail bakeries would go to the bagel “factory” early on Sunday mornings and pick up their weekly orders. Anyway, the bakery only made bagels on Saturday nights after Shabbat. I imagine it was the island where the Queensborough Bridge crosses. It was located on an island in the East River. My father explained that there was only one bagel bakery in NY (probably the nation). I always wondered why we couldn’t get bagels during the week. In fact, Phil Zaro, one of the two brothers that owned the bakery was our upstairs neighbor in our apartment building. It was right around the corner … the first of what would ultimately be a chain: Zaro’s. We (my Dad and I) used to go to the local bakery on Sunday mornings for bagels and Jewish rye/corn bread. The memories are fuzzy, but it was back in the mid ’40’s and early 50’s. And this is where SantaDad steps in, who sent me this email on Sunday, after trying one of my bagels the night before. They were so chewy, crispy and tough on the outside and soft on the inside and a bit unlike the bagels I was used to. I followed the recipe to the letter, beginning the process on Friday night and finishing it on Saturday, yet although the bagels were gorgeous and smelled wonderful, I was a bit disappointed. Yes, yes, yes, I know, just eat half of one, and while that’s a bright-minded suggestion, there is also the fact that Peter Reinhart’s bagel recipe has been calling my name since I bought the book last winter, which just about brings us to last Friday. I end up glutted and then hungry three hours later. There’s just no reason to eat 7 ounces of bread for breakfast. Because you see, there is one thing that bothers me about bagels is that they’re too big.
But items on my list of cooking refusals fall into none of these categories, and that’s why I’ll gladly leave the sausage, sushi and bagel making to others in this great city. You see, a lot of what drags me into the kitchen is a complaint: I find something dissatisfying in its availability, quality or it brings me ennui. Although I’ve never come up short in the crazy category, there are some gastronomical indulgences that even I refuse to make at home.
0 kommentar(er)
