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  • From: grady <grady AT ibiblio.org>
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: why you should never move to Boston
  • Date: Wed, 04 Jan 2006 10:47:10 -0500

There has been an independent bagel shop in North Chapel Hill for at least 5-6 years now. It's called Bagels on the Hill, and it's on Weaver Dairy Road in the same stripmall as the BBQ Joint.

I used to eat there occasionally & while the bagels were head-and-shoulders above Bruegger's (well, a freshly-formed dog turd would be head-and-shoulders above Brueggers), even a hot-fresh-from-the-oven Bagels on the Hill bagel was still kinda meh.

Maybe it's the yeast, actually, or the overnight retardation; they seemed to lack that yeasty complexity that would've/should've developed from that. I haven't eaten there in ages, particularly now that the BBQ Joint is there, because really, when you pull into that parking lot, how can you *not* have a tasty BBQ sandwich?

Although I'm not driving by there at 8:00 a.m. so perhaps it would be different then. Point being that perhaps in the intervening years they've dialed-in their process a little better. Mebbe I should stop in again. Although I assume that if they were really great, somebody would've said something at some point.

RE: Kossar's bialys: Don't make me cry. They start losing their astonishing mmmmmmmm-ness within about 15 minutes of leaving the store (and by an hour later they're merely outstanding), so I dunno about mailorder; would be like mailorder BBQ.

Ross

Duncan Murrell wrote:
re: Bagels

Bagels take a lot of time, although the dough is pretty simple: flour, dark brown sugar, yeast, salt. Then it's got to rest a couple hours. Then you form the bagels, and rest them overnight, sometimes in a fridge. Then you boil them a couple minutes , flipping once. Then you bake them at really high heat, like 450. Then you serve them immediately.

It's not like dropping fresh dough into hot fat, like a doughnut. Freshness is key -- you should be eating it within an hour of the bagel popping out of the oven. All of which selects for an independent bagel maker with a shop in an area where people gather or pass by in the morning. I assume the chain bagel shops cut corners -- the process involves a lot of heat energy and time -- because that's what chains do.

I don't know much about the other bakers around here, the small independent outfits, but it would seem difficult for them to make great bagels in any significant numbers without having someone whose main job is bagels and without having a few big kettles just for bagels. Maybe someone else knows how they make their bagels.

Until some crazy person comes along and decides to open an independent bagel shop (and pickle shop/stand, if I had my way), it's Bruegger's. Kind of sad. (Chesapeake Bagel Factory -- another chain -- makes slightly better bagels, but I'm not sure if they're located around here. Einstein Bros. isn't so hot.)

Finally, even in New York there's debate about what a proper bagel tastes like, and some old-schoolers will only eat the small, crunchy, dense kind, while others think the proper bagel is large, crunchy and chewy. Both styles are "authentic," but they're definitely different. I suppose it comes down to the care and individual attention and freshness.

You can order Kossar's bagels and bialy's (and watch mpg clips of someone named John making bagels) here:

http://www.kossarsbialys.com/

Also, I get my pickles and sauerkraut from Picklelicious in Teaneck, NJ : www.picklelicious.com . Some friends like the NYC Pickle Guys (www.nycpickleguys.com), but I haven't tried them. The lady at Picklelicious apprenticed at Guss's. ("Guss'" pickles are now available at A Southern Season back in the deli section, but they're made by a larger company that bought the Guss name a few years back.)

d








On Jan 4, 2006, at 9:15 AM, grady wrote:

While this is undoubtedly correct, I'm still waiting for someone to
conduct some kind of scientific inquiry into *why* the bagels down here
have to suck so bad. There are various theories--the water being one
popular one--but goddamnit, the sheer quantities of decent bagels in the
northeast would suggest that it's not rocket science.

As opposed to BBQ, which is hard to get right even in central NC.

Re: Bo's original post: where was this "review" published? Further
pillorying may be required.

Ross

John I wrote:
Yes! And when you move to Raleigh, you shouldn't complain about the bagels!
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+++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Duncan Murrell
www.rattlejar.com


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