Bagel wars have been going on for decades...probably since the first transplanted Eastern European Jews came to North America some 150 years ago.
Growing up here in New York, I was lucky to have early exposure to great bagels, made in Manhattan, the Bronx or Brooklyn. I've recounted the days when, as a high school or college student, I'd drive down to the big bagel factory in the Bronx to bring home a baker's dozen...fresh and piping hot right from the oven.
Over the years as I've traveled, I'd sample bagels in other places. Even major cities like Boston and Chicago couldn't match their bagels to the ones here in New York. Montreal, I will admit, has some really good bagels.
The west coast, especially the L.A. area, was always seriously lacking when it came to good bagels. I can't say how many times I was disappointed after being drawn into a bagel shop in California with a promising name like Einstein's or New York Bagels. It got to the point where I just stopped trying; I usually reserve my bagel-eating for when I'm home or in Montreal.
So an item in yesterday's L.A. Times that linked to a lengthy feature in The Tablet, an online Jewish cultural outlet, caught my eye. The opening line, under the headline "L.A. Ups Its Bagel Game," is: Bagels in L.A. suck.
It's an interesting read, describing how over the years New York expats tried to duplicate the famous New York bagel, usually with little success. Is it the difference between New York water and California water? Some California bagel-makers even tried importing or "Brooklynizing" the water they used, with no luck.
One L.A. baker, Zach Liporice, has tried following old-school New York bagel recipes.
"'They came out terrible,' he said. Because, of course, there’s a lot more to a bagel—and to any “soulful” cooking—than mechanically following the steps of some recipe. This is especially true for breads, for which the composition of flours, local water, and temperature during the proofing process can have drastic effects on a dough."
So, the story says, L.A. bakers have pretty much given up trying to duplicate the New York bagel. Instead, they now add their own distinctive L.A. touches to come up with what critics say are some pretty good bagels. Not New York bagels, but still, good bagels.
We shall see. I'm heading out to L.A. Thursday for work (and some fun) and I'll try to check out some places mentioned in the article... Maury's in Silver Lake, Pop's in Culver City near Fairfax (where the famous New York-style deli Cantor's is located), and Courage Bagels, near Silver Lake.
I'll try to do some taste-testing and report back here in a future post.
Wish me happy bagel-hunting.