Outside of the bustling cloisters of Manhattan’s cityscape, the ubiquitous New York bagel evades discovery. If you’re not in the famed city that never sleeps, you’ll find doughy bread parading around in a bagel-shaped costume and seldom the real deal. So is there really something about the city that makes bagels have that unparalleled taste and texture?
You can look online or ask your fellow East Coaster, and more often than not you’ll get the same answer – it’s the water that makes the difference. Or is it? Yes, New York City has distinct water that has high traces of magnesium and calcium, and hard water definitely plays a role, albeit small. Over-filtered water can make for a gloopy, overly sticky dough, but Manhattan’s hard water doesn’t create that distinct chewy texture and hard outer skin.
What makes the New York bagel truly unmatched is the lengthy production process. Really good-tasting bagels take more than a day to make and start with resting, a lot of resting. After the bagels are formed, they hang tight in the refrigerator for one day or even a couple of days, which sounds strange, but the resting gives the yeast time to ferment and develop a sort of tangy taste.
Next is the most crucial step for a good bagel – boiling. A quick 30-second to 3-minute boil into a malt barley water solution gelatinizes the starch, creating a chewy interior, and a crusty outer coating. Industrial bagel manufacturing places don’t boil bagels, instead, the manufacturers steam the bagels which sure gives the bagels a shiny coating on the outside but does nothing to develop the texture and flavor of the bagel’s interior.
Baking off the bagels in the oven makes the crust even more golden, further thickening the outermost layer. Many industrial bakeries quicken and amend this resting, boiling, and baking process leading to bagels shaped bread rather than bagels with a genuinely distinct flavor or appearance.
Outside of New York City, there are plenty of bakeries using this tedious bagel baking process, to know if the bagels are legit, just simply ask how the bagels are made, if they’re boiling and baking their bagels, you’ll know you’re in the presence of a good-tasting bagel, no magical water is needed either!