Episode 84: Bagels

On this week's episode, we get into the wonderful world of bagels! We chat about the history of the bagels and how boiling of the bagel became to be, and then we jump into how to make bagels and the science behind that crusty outer layer and chewy, dense inner bread. And on this week's Food Fight discussion, we talk about your love versus your love's preference for food.

Let's taco 'bout it!

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Let's taco 'bout it!

• Sharon and Ike went on a date (now that they're both on the mend) to the Cafe Med in Salt Lake City, Utah and had the pickled turnips and baba ganoush as a starter plate. 
• Winter (and Sharon) and family went to the IKEA Annual Easter Paskbord all-you-can-eat buffet this week and really enjoyed the yellow Princess Cake (aka Bakelse Prinsess).
• The first documentation referencing a bagel was listed in a community ordinance in 1610 in Krakow, Poland--you should give women in childbirth should be given a bagel. It was supposed to ward off evil spirits!
• In the early 1900s, the Bagel Brunch, basically the same as bagel and lox today, became was quite popular. Gil Marks describes how the Eggs Benedict was quite popular, and the Bagel Brunch was the Jewish kosher-version of the Eggs Benedict. 

• Definition of pareve
• The Local Bakers of 338, a local craft trade union that created bagels by hand. But it went out of business because the Lender familya leased the bagel-making machinery from inventor Thompson and commercially-produced bagels and sent them out frozen.
• Have you seen this Seinfeld episode, The Strike?

• You need a high protein flour in order to get good bagels. Any sort of bread flour will work great like King Arthur, General Mills, etc.
• You need to proof the bagels in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours to develop the flavors.
• The true bagel needs to be boiled prior baking, for about 30 seconds to 2-3 minutes, depending on your chewiness preference of your bagel.
• Malt barley syrup is a flavor enhancer added to the water. It enhances the Maillard reaction!

• Food-grade lye is sodium hydroxide (pH around 14) helps speed up the Maillard reaction too! It reacts with the steam to create a benign carbonate.
• Harold McGee suggests making baked baking soda. Baking soda's usual pH is 8.4. But if you bake it, you can get a carbonate that has a pH of 11.6.
• Is New York water the reason why bagels in NYC are the best? The American Chemical Society thinks differently!

• The Montreal bagel is boiled in a combination of honey and water.
• This week, we have a Food Fight discussion based on an interaction that Lee had at Einstein Bagels. It's all about your love versus your food loves. How do you compromise?
• By the way, please email us your Food Fight question to hungrysquared@gmail.com.  You might get some swag from us!
  
  

Run Time: 49 minutes

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