Down the Bagel Hole

Ever since 2012, I've had a bit of a thing for bagels ... and that's just making bagels. I've been eating them for as long as I can remember. But now I'm taking that thing a little deeper, as I venture on a project to sample all the bagels made in the greater Seattle area (as well as share the recipes I use to make my own bagels). So join with me as I go down the bagel hole.

About Bagels

Seattle Bagel Scene

Al-Hatlani, Alana, "Where to Find Sensational Bagels Around the Seattle Area," Eater Seattle, March 17, 2022 (updated), https://seattle.eater.com/maps/where-to-find-the-best-bagels-in-seattle-tacoma

Vinh, Tan, "Is Seattle becoming a city with a bona fide bagel scene? These newest bagel shops lend street cred," Seattle Times, August 5, 2021, https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/is-seattle-becoming-a-city-with-a-bona-fide-bagel-scene-where-to-find-the-best-bagels-in-town/

Trevor Lenzmeier, "Take a self-guided walking (and munching) tour of Seattle's 'Bagel-Muda Triangle,'" Seattle Times, December 3, 2021, https://www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoors/hit-a-half-dozen-bagel-spots-on-this-fall-walk-across-capitol-hill/

Vinh, Tan, "J. Kenji Lopez-Alt is Seattle's most powerful food influencer--and its most reluctant one," Seattle Times, June 10, 2021, https://www.seattletimes.com/life/food-drink/j-kenji-lopez-alt-is-seattles-most-powerful-food-influencer-and-its-most-reluctant-one/

Bagel Opinions

Lopez-Alt, J. Kenji, "The Good Bagel Manifesto," SeriousEats, April 11, 2019 (updated), https://www.seriouseats.com/what-makes-a-good-bagel-bad-bagel-kenji-opinion-untoasted

Bittman, Mark, "Bagels, Lox, and Me," The New York Times, April 29, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/30/opinion/bittman-bagels-lox-and-me.html

Making Bagels

Leo, Maurizio, "Sourdough Bagel," The Perfect Loaf, June 22, 2020, https://www.theperfectloaf.com/sourdough-bagel/ (this recipe is the foundation for recipe for sourdough bagels)

Pendergast, Tom, "Sara Went to Brazil; I Made Bagels," Caribunkle, February 2, 2021, https://caribunkle.wordpress.com/2021/02/02/bagels/ (this includes my pre-sourdough bagel recipe)

The Fresh Loaf, March 30, 2005, https://www.thefreshloaf.com/recipes/bagels (my original bread recipe, which I've had to modify as I've increasingly turned to higher protein bread flours, which are thirstier)

Saffitz, Claire, "How to Make Bagels," NYT Cooking, https://cooking.nytimes.com/guides/81-how-to-make-bagels

Balinska, Maria, The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2008. What was most fascinating to me in this history of the bagel is how little known the bagel was outside of major Jewish centers until the 1980s.

Barrow, Cathy, Bagels, Schmears, and a Nice Piece of Fish: A whole Brunch of Recipes to Make at Home, San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2022. Great photos. I prefer the Modern Jewish Baker for actual process stuff.

Sarna, Shannon, Modern Jewish Baker: Challah, Babka, Bagels & More, New York: The Countryman Press, 2017. Really nice coverage of techniques, tools, and toppings. This book helped me unlock the Jalapeno Cheddar problem I'd been having.