Why, oh why can't I find a decent bagel in the Boston area?
I am a former New Yorker who has grown to love Boston--its approachable scale, its history, its European feel, its baseball team. But the bagels here are just second rate.
It's not like there isn't plenty of excellent food here. I could wax poetic about Legal Seafood's clam chowder or a Fenway frank, but bagels? No thank you.
I dream of H&H bagels, warm, slathered with cream cheese.
I just don't understand why Boston can't make decent bagels. Is it the water? The air? Traffic?
A perfect bagel is not too big you can't easily finish it at a meal and not too fat around the middle. You should be able to put fillings in the bagel and still be able to fit it in your mouth for a solid bite. It has the right ratio and contrast between chewy crust and soft middle. The crust is 'toothy' enough to crunch when you bite into it, but not so chewy that you have to gnaw through the bagel. The middle is neither so dense it's like eating lead, nor so spongy it's like eating wonder bread.
I'm a pretty easygoing gal. I'm not what you would call 'high maintenance'. But I really, really want to be able to buy a good bagel in my adopted home town. Yes, I can buy frozen H&H bagels and cook them at home. While good, and better than anything I can buy locally, it's not optimal. I don't always want my bagels toasted, and with the frozen bagels, a fresh hot bagel just isn't possible.
This is my rant for today.
Thank you for your attention, and have a nice day.
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