No, I do not say Jouy-zee.
Yes, I grew up down the shore.
Yes, I will drive an hour for good pizza (and pass two thousand places on the way)
No, I never pumped gas until I left the state.
And, oh boy do I miss real bagels!
Living in Missouri I got pretty desperate for a good, crispy outside and chewy inside properly flavored, saliva-inducing to think about, honest-to-god bagel. You just can't get anything out here that even comes close.
I've tried to quell the craving with Einstein Bros Bagels, they are ok.... and by ok I mean horrible and I would never eat one if I was anywhere near driving distance to Yorktown Bagels in Manalapan, NJ.
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| Bagel perfection, still warm sesame with cream cheese |
No matter how far I travel this is one food (along with pork roll) that I will always crave and search for.
Every visit home I freeze and transport a dozen or so precious bagels back to Missouri with me, worrying all the way that they might start to thaw if I don't get back fast enough. Fresh these things are worthy of song and folklore, frozen and toasted they are almost as good.
But what does a girl do when there just is no going home, and no convincing my parents that overnight mailing food to me is a great idea?
You spend a year trying to recreate perfection. Yes, a whole year of trial and error, of feeding the neighborhood and hearing that your creations are "delicious" and "awesome" but knowing they can't even hold a candle to their inspiration.
In Columbia, MO there is an attempt at a bagel shop. Yes, they sell baked dough with a hole in the middle.... but its not the same! No relief to be found for a Jersey craving.
From yeast, flour and love I crafted batch after batch of tasty creations, but no one was worthy of the title of Bagel. I tried different flours, yeasts, boiling times, oven temperatures, flavor combinations and still failure.
Although, now I do make one heck of a cheesecake, apple pie and fruit tart with pastry cream!
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| Boiling pot with baking soda and molasses |
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| One batch of attempts: cheddar jalepeno, Asiago basil, and apple cinnamon |
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| Perfect cheesecake with raspberry and chocolate swirl. |
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| Mom's apple pie, made by me |
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| This happened: pastry cream, almond flour crust fruit tart |
I've come to accept that while I'm away from my home state, there will be no bagels. And thats ok. Really. I'll always have a little sand in my heart and sun in my hair.
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