Bagel or Danish?

[Pam R]

I would say bagel every time - unless we're talking a blueberry, apple cinnamon or raisin bagel. Pheh. It's a shandeh un a charpeh.

[Pan]

A nice cheese danish v. Au Bon Pain cinnamon crisp "bagels." Discuss amongst yourselves.

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Is that a joke, Chris?

I'd have anything from Moishe's, my local kosher bakery -- including any of their least-good things -- rather than something from Au Bon Pain.

[tryska]

It all depends. Are the bagels fresh? What kinds of cream cheese are there? Are there onion or garlic bagels? Or are they - gasp - those frozen Lender's bread donuts that have the effrontery to call themselves bagels?

And the danish - are they cheese? Are they the good kind with the dry, crumbly cheese that's not too sweet but melts in your mouth, or is it that runny stuff that always tastes a bit off? Are they glazed shiny on top? Or are they those prepackaged things you can get in a vending machine? Worse - are they those prepackaged almond danish, which I won't eat on a bet?

If we have fresh bagels and the good kind of cheese danish, one of each. If we have Lender's bagels and prepackaged danish, I'll just go out for something to eat.

And yes, I'm with you, tryska - English muffins trump both. Especially toasted with all that butter dripping everywhere.

Marcia.

who likes edit because spelling errors happen in between proofreading and hitting "add reply"

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wow - you succintly went through my exact thought process - except my toss-up would be garlic vs everything.

[jackal10]

What about the sephardi's? Bagels are strictly Ashkenazi, and mostly American east coast. Personally althoug of Jewish background I can't stand the tough chewy things. Make great wheels for model cars.

I'll take the croissant, or the pizza, or the smoked fish on a salad

[Chris Amirault]

A nice cheese danish v. Au Bon Pain cinnamon crisp "bagels." Discuss amongst yourselves.

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Is that a joke, Chris?

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Yes, absolutely -- Linda Richman reference there flying overhead. Explaining a joke again...

I think that part of what I'm trying to suggest here is that the danish v. bagel choice relies deeply on quality of said items, and I can imagine choosing one over the other based solely on that, and not on savory/sweet, etc. Hence the reference to the very un-NYC-bagel-y ABP "bagel."

[Gifted Gourmet]

What about the sephardi's? Bagels are strictly Ashkenazi, and mostly American east coast.

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Terrific article on Japan and the rise (no pun) of the bagel in Japan in today's WSJ ... sorry that it isn't available online for everyone to enjoy ...

Seems that the woman opened what came to be a very successful bagel store was the result of her visit to Ess-a-Bagel in NYC ... she is doing a marvelous business right there in Tokyo ... her name is Miho Inagi and her store is Maruchi Bagel ... when she began her business, the article notes that bagels were barely known in Japan. Now the article says that they are popular and almost a health food ...

[Curlz]

No question, it's the bagel--with cream cheese, lox and dammit, there BETTER be a good slice of onion to go on there too! Caveat: cinnamon raisin bagels do not exist for pairings with fish. Those are reserved for butter, peanut butter (#1 choice), or cream cheese. But NEVER fish.

As for the danish, I could care less, but could be talked in to part of a decent cheese danish--but that's on the rarest of occasions.

[Jason Perlow]

What about the sephardi's? Bagels are strictly Ashkenazi, and mostly American east coast.

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Terrific article on Japan and the rise (no pun) of the bagel in Japan in today's WSJ ... sorry that it isn't available online for everyone to enjoy ...

Seems that the woman opened what came to be a very successful bagel store was the result of her visit to Ess-a-Bagel in NYC ... she is doing a marvelous business right there in Tokyo ... her name is Miho Inagi and her store is Maruchi Bagel ... when she began her business, the article notes that bagels were barely known in Japan. Now the article says that they are popular and almost a health food ...

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I can confirm that the Japanese are gonzo about bagels and lox. When I was working at Canon back in the mid 90's we always had our corporate breakfasts and luncheons catered with them.

[lancastermike]

Or, if your family is anything like mine, you eat the bagel, and your grandmother eats a bagel, and in a moment of pure horror, you watch her shove about a dozen Danishes into her giant sized pocketbook, along with a hundred Sweet-and-Low packets and a box of napkins.

Back in the 80's I was Food and Beverage manager at a resort hotel. We were hosting a Hadassa group and the sales manager wanted coffee and danish set up for them while they were waiting to check in. I got a call from the catering manager telling me the danish were gone. I told the kitchen to send some more and 10 minutes later I got a call they were out again. This time I called the sales manager and told him if he wanted more he would have to pay for them. This led to one of my many fond memories of this job. The sales manager and the head of this group yelling at each other in the hotel lobby. The real funny part is that the head of the group made all the little old ladies carry their bags back to the table and dump out everything they had taken. The tray was once again full.

Ah memories

[Turtleboy]

And why to the go..err..um...non Jewish bagel proprietors slice the bagel a second time.

It should only be cut once (in half to split it), and not a second time like it were a sandwhich.

And oy, don't get me started on the inability to properly toast a bagel.