ANT KATZ

Bagels are back! II

Bagel holes are bite-sized bagel balls, stuffed with cream cheese and topped with quirky ingredients and they “are officially trending” according to Aly Miller of TheNosher.com.

It all started on the US East Coast (that’s the New York side for those who don’t know their left from their elbows) and it is all about laying claim to this product whose meteoric popularity goes way beyond being called a trend. Explosive may be a better description.
 
Everyone knows there’s not actually any dough byproduct when you make bagels, and that bagel balls are actually just bite-size bagels. But this food trend, like most trends, is all about fun.

Perhaps it’s a trend for carb-fearing foodies who avoid bagels but might just give in to a bite or two. Or maybe bagel holes are a quirky response to the trend of bagel cafes offering larger and more obscenely stuffed sandwiches than ever before, writes Aly.

At Jewish Report Online we know our users like these type of stories. After all, our December story: “Babka is the New Black” on 2015’s top Jewish food trends, in which we pronounced that “Bagels are back!”, went on to become one of the most read stories on the website…

So, how did all of this bagel shape-shifting begin? Most people will tell you that it began with Bantam Bagels. Aly, however, saw stuffed bagel holes much earlier at David Chang’s Momofuku Milk Bar. Cheng has been baking dinner-roll sized “bagel bombs” stuffed with hot dogs or smoky scallion cream cheese, among other flavours, since 2011.

Everyone lays claim

Bantam Bagels, a West Village bagel shop, came on the scene in January 2015 and claimed on TV that the Bagel Hole was their idea. Sales of Bagel Holes have been on the rise ever since.

As have claimants to have originated the idea.

They have become so popular that Starbucks branches on the East Coast and even Delta Airline flights out of Laguardia Airport carry Bantam Bagels’ Bagel Holes.

Their flavours are both sweet and savoury and one can find everything one would in a normal bagel. But there are also off-the-wall flavours like “cookies and milk” and “hot pretzel”.

Recently, more and more bakers have started making these doughy, cream cheese- filled spheres. They have created an industry. And they have even gone mainstream – beyond the kosher kitchens of New York.

In Washington DC, “B-Holes Bakery” sells out regularly at markets across the city.

While the battle rages to claim being the originator, one wonders who else is tinkering away in the bakery and what the next big thing will be.

But one thing is certain: This trend is on the rise.