A HARTE APPETITE; BAGEL SPANS ETHNIC SPECIALTY TO UNIVERSAL FAVORITE

If you, like many Americans, are trying to follow a healthy diet, it may surprise you to learn that bagels are dangerous.

That's right. Statistics reveal that the bagel is responsible for untold numbers of visits to hospital emergency rooms. That's because so many people are cutting their hands while trying to slice one. In fact, Mark Smith, head of George Washington Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine, claims such wounds may be the greatest under-reported injury of our time!

All things considered, however, a properly made bagel is probably worth the risk. Apparently, more and more people think so. Like pizza before it, the bagel has emerged from an ethnic specialty to a universal favorite.

Only five years ago, 70% of all bagel shops were concentrated in just four states: New York, New Jersey, Florida and California. Today they are everywhere and number in the thousands. Per capita consumption of bagels has more than doubled since 1993, and today Americans spend nearly $3 billion dollars a year on them.

The bagel has all but supplanted the sweet roll at coffee breaks. No wonder Joan Lang, writing in Restaurant Business magazine, observes that if bread is the staff of life, bagels, with their rapidly rising sales, are the pogo stick.

The origin of the bagel is not entirely clear, but the most popular story says it was invented by an Austrian baker in 1683 to celebrate Polish King Jan Sobieski's defeat of invading Turks at the gates of Vienna.

To honor the king, who was an accomplished horseman, the baker shaped the dough in the form of a stirrup, the Austrian word for which is "beugel." And the rest, as they say, is history.

Imagine what might have happened if the king had been into football.

Another account suggests that the bagel is a descendant of the pretzel and that its name derives from the German word "beigen," meaning, "to bend." Another contends that bagels are of Russian or Polish extraction and that their holes simply provide a convenient way for street vendors to carry them stacked on long poles.

Still another argues that bagels derive from the experiments of Bagelus, a baker from Crete who tried to cure his gout by wrapping dough around his toes. At least one source maintains that bagels, not unlike chop suey, are a strictly American invention.

In contrast, Joan Nathan in her "Jewish Cooking in America," submits that "the boiled and baked roll with a hole dates possibly from the Roman period."

Whatever the case, bagels have long been a centerpiece of Jewish culinary culture and therefore linked to cities with large Jewish populations such as New York.

There, a bagel bakers' union (Local #338) was formed in the early 1900's, but was eventually put out of business by the invention of a bagel-making machine in 1960. (There were some fifty unsuccessful versions before the Thompson Bagel Machine Corporation figured out how to do it.)

In the 1950's, a play, "Bagels and Yox," ran on Broadway to packed houses. Bagels were distributed during intermissions.

New York still claims to have the country's most authentic bagels, a boast which my son, who has lived there the last five years, says is valid. He's partial to New York City Bagels on Amsterdam Avenue near Lincoln Center because the bagels there, unlike those at more famous outlets, are not mass-produced.

New York City's "everything" bagel, he says, lives up to its name. He should know. During his first year in the city, when his status as a student dictated that he become a frugal gourmet, he ate one every day for lunch, a deliciously filling bargain at 55 cents.

Some say Brooklyn tap water is the secret to New York bagels, but others, chiefly those outside the city, dispute that. The founder of Finagle A Bagel in Boston's Faneuil Hall actually conducted experiments using Boston and New York water to try to settle the matter. He concluded that know-how is more important than H2 0.

From New York, bagels rolled westward aided by the likes of Harry Lender, a polish immigrant, and his son Murray, who packaged their bagels for sale to supermarkets. Today, chains like Einstein's and Bruegger's have gotten into the act, selling dozen of varieties.

And as if further evidence of the ascendancy of the bagel were necessary, even Dunkin' Donuts now purveys them.

But bagels have evolved not just in terms of popularity. Their very nature, at least in this country, has changed. And this is a source of no small controversy among bagel purists, folks who insist that the only acceptable fruit bagel is one with raisins.

As Jeff Weinstein laments in a recent edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer, "It is now almost impossible to find an honest bagel, one that matches my remembrance of bagels past. The land is awash in bagels that are not bagels, bagels sans center (as it were), bagels without soul."

Carolina Rodriguez agrees. She says, "In the United States . . . most people's idea of a bagel seems to be of a vaguely squishy unsweetened doughnut, possibly with some sort of godawful flavoring mixed into it (with the "blueberry bagel" being perhaps the most offensive), generally purchased in lots of six in some supermarket . . . possibly even frozen."

Though they may be guilty of overreacting, you can understand why such people, raised on what Weinstein calls "Model-T" bagels, the kind children could and literally did cut their teeth on, feel that today's softer and sweeter bagels have strayed too far from their roots.

But whichever side of this argument you take, you have good reason to make your own bagels, because in that way you can customize them to your liking.

Homemade bagels are not as difficult as they may sound. And even though you have to take the extra step to boil them before baking (this gives them their authentic shine and chewy crust), this "kettling" process cuts down on their rising time, so they are quicker to make than most yeast breads.

For the best results, keep in mind the following guidelines:

-- Use bread flour because its high gluten content helps gives bagels a chewy crust.

-- The longer you boil bagels before baking, the more dense and tough they will be. On the other hand, underboiling makes a bagel swell too much when baked, producing a "winker," a bagel with no center hole.

-- Don't worry if your bagels are not perfectly shaped. They're not supposed to be. Whatever you do, don't use a doughnut or cookie cutter, as this gives bagels what purists call a decidedly "Protestant" attitude.

The following recipes should come in handy as you pursue what Weinstein calls your own "holey grail", or what others have less reverently termed "doughnuts with arthritis."

Whole-Wheat Granola Bagels

These thoroughly modern bagels are based on a recipe from "The Bagel Bible" by Marilyn Bagel. (That is not a misprint!) For a more traditional version you can substitute 5 cups of bread flour for the flour and granola called for. Barley malt syrup is a natural sweetener usually sold at health food stores.

Ingredients:

2 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)

1 tablespoon active dry yeast

5 tablespoons barley malt syrup

2 teaspoons salt

1 1/4 cups nonfat granola

1/3 cup golden raisins

2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups bread flour

Directions:

Combine water and yeast, stirring to dissolve. Add 2 tablespoons syrup and salt and mix thoroughly. Add granola and raisins, mixing well. Mix in whole-wheat flour and 1 and 1/4 cups of bread flour. If dough looks loose, add remaining flour and blend well. Knead dough for 10-12 minutes on a lightly floured surface, adding small amounts of flour to prevent stickiness. Cut dough into 12 pieces, roll each piece into a ball, and poke a floured finger into the center to form a hole, shaping tops and smoothing sides. Cover and let rise 25 minutes. Add remaining syrup to a pot of water and bring to a boil. Add bagels, being careful not to crowd, and boil 2 minutes per side. Remove with slotted spoon and drain. Bake at 450 degrees on a cornmeal dusted cookie sheet for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Bagel Chips

Bagels, especially homemade ones, don't keep very well, though they can be rejuvenated slightly by dampening and toasting. A good way to use up old bagels is to make them into chips. This recipe is from Dona Z. Meilach's "The Best Bagels Are Made At Home." She suggests using them as the basis for nachos.

Ingredients:

Day-old bagels sliced horizontally 1/8-inch thick

Melted butter and dried herbs or other toppings, if desired

Directions:

If using, brush bagel slices with butter and sprinkle with toppings. Bake bagel slices on greased cookie sheet at 375 degrees until browned and crisp, 4-5 minutes. Serve plain or with dips.

Flavored Cream Cheese

A good bagel deserves a generous dollop of cream cheese, or what aficionados call a shmear. The flavor possibilities are endless, but for starters consider the following. For variety, you can also substitute ricotta cheese for some or all of the cream cheese.

Ingredients:

4 ounces cream cheese

One of the following:

1/4 cup fresh strawberries

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons orange marmalade

1-2 ripe bananas

1/4 cup nuts

2 tablespoons chopped jalapeno peppers

Directions:

In a food processor, soften cream cheese and mix in selected flavoring.

Got a culinary question you'd like to ask or an idea you'd like to see treated in this column? Send your suggestions to A Harte Appetite, c/o The Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, MO., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semovm.semo.edu.