Is there such a thing as an "LA-style Bagel"?
We all know what a NY-style bagel is, but is there such a thing as an LA-style bagel?
Is it those ginormous chewy monstrosities put out by Goldsteins, some of them so sweet and cakey (e.g. banana nut, chocolate chip peanut butter, etc.) as to border on being muffins or dessert.
Or is it the dinner-roll like creations by Noah's?
Or is there no such thing?
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I loved I 'n Joy, too. The Brooklyn Bagel is a good bagel but is it my imagination or have they gotten a lot smaller? I hadn't gotten them in awhile and when I recently bought them I was taken aback at how small they seemed. I grew up on midwestern bagels, and I also agree that putting blueberries, cheese, or jalapeno in bagels is a travesty! I also have to say that new york bagels are too hard and chewy for me.
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DiveFan
Apr 16, 2008 02:47 PM
The Bagel Factory has made some decent bagels for a long time. They are boiled and most varieties have good crusts. I grew up on sourdough so I like the dense, sour interior. They were pricey even before the latest flour price escalation; such a depressing situation.
Production of sweet bagels should require capital punishment.
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ozzygee
Apr 15, 2008 04:28 PM
If there is a predominant style out here (although I hate to claim it as an LA thing since it's a more widespread phenomenon) it's probably a style of bagel that is geared exclusively to making bagel sandwiches. So the bagels are 'cakey' or 'doughy' rather than properly chewy. Sure we have our bakeries that try to emulate a NY bagel, but for the most part where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise.
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Foodandwine
Apr 15, 2008 04:28 PM
I think Panera gets my vote for an "LA" type bagel. But heck I love the NY Bagel type over these any day of the week. When I was a child the Bagel Store in Brooklyn had a Neon Sign yes "Neon" stating Bagels 5 cents. When the price went up to 6 cents they put up a handwritten 6 on cardboard over the 5..
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Chowpatty
Apr 15, 2008 03:53 PM
I'll say yes, even though I'm sure many will disagree. I grew up in L.A. eating L.A. bagels and never tasted a "real" New York bagel until two years ago. It was a tasty, yet very chewy beast, and I can certainly see why they are so widely admired.
But the bagels I grew up on were not sweet and not puffy or overly large. They came from Brooklyn Bagel or I and Joy or Nate 'n Al's and they were onion or poppyseed or pumpernickel, with just a tiny hint of sweetness, and a good chew, although nothing like the chewiness of a New York bagel. They are a fine fine thing bought fresh at Brooklyn Bagel, then toasted and topped with cream cheese and lox or chopped liver or many other things. They will never involve blueberries, cinnamon, chocolate or other sins of bageldom. They will never top 200 calories or so (just guessing) like the giant overstuffed 350 calorie behemoths out there. They are wonderful things when freshly procured and are not substitutes or pale imitations of New York bagels -- they are L.A. bagels, and they are a good thing.›7 Replies-
re: Chowpatty
ChinoWayne
Apr 15, 2008 06:31 PM
I'm with Chowpatty, egg or water, water plain, or with onions or poppy seeds, nothing else, and not humongous, soft, doughy masses.
And a "hard outer shell" like this: http://professorsalt.com/category/bagels/
Or as the Professor calls it, "old school" bagels.
In this neck of the woods there ain't nut'n but dough bombs, and we have to rely upon my sister to bring bagels from her local Western Bagel shop (not the supermarket version) on resupply missions.
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