“Whether you bake the bagels yourself or buy them... dress up grocery store cream cheese or make it from scratch, I’ll guide you through it all,” writes Washington Post food columnist Barrow (Pie Squared) in this entertaining outing. With a smattering of Yiddish and a recap of her mishpachah—including her renegade grandmother who flavored matzo balls with bacon fat—Barrow covers everything from recipes for a proper whitefish salad to sour pickles, but the bagel is the thing. In a thoughtful concession to the home baker’s space constraints, each recipe makes half a dozen rings that fit on a quarter sheet pan. To quote Seinfeld, Barrow’s classic New York bagels are real, and they’re spectacular. (The secret to “the chew, the glossy exterior shell, and the dynamic rise” is high-gluten flour, not New York City water.) Recipes are also given for the bagel’s flat cousin, the bialy; homemade cream cheeses and spreads; and even a gluten-free option. But some inclusions are simply meshuga; for instance, after convincingly arguing that the history of traditional bagel-making is rich and deep, she offers a blueberry bagel recipe and a mix of cream cheese and chocolate chips meant to mimic cannoli filling. Minor shandas aside, Barrow’s helpful guidance, flexibility, and humor combine to make this a kvell-inducing joy.
