Not all bagels are created equal. Twenty years ago I ate a few Noah’s bagels, but their consistency reminded me of Wonder Bread. Better than egg bagels, but not by much. The local Noah’s is now an Einstein Bros. (same company, actually), and the plain, as-is bagels (my preference) are fine.
In 1969 when I was in Philadelphia to take my Ph.D. written exams, I stayed with a kind grad-school buddy and his wife. For some reason, decent bagels were hard to find in West Philly. We had to drive way out to a place on City Line Avenue to find them. Preserving them meant putting them in the freezer, and thawing them meant the oven or perhaps a toaster. The result was a hard crust, not the firm crust of a proper bagel.
By the late 1970s, I could buy Lender’s frozen bagels in Olympia supermarkets. Using a microwave oven, they could be thawed without creating a crusty surface, so the result was passably good.
During the past 20 or so years several sources of decent bagels have appeared here in Western Washington. Rather than stockpiling some in the freezer compartment, when in a bagel mood I visit Einstein Bros. at the University Village QFC store, buy one, and munch it while having my Starbucks.
Life is good again.
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