PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: Iwona K. Hoffman

By Iwona K. Hoffman and Rachele Kanigel

Bagels are a little like New Yorkers - hard and crusty on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. So it's not surprising that the Eastern-European delicacy has rolled its way into the culture of the city.

Walk down the street in virtually any neighborhood of New York and you're bound to spot people in cafes, on street corners or rushing into a subway station with a crunchy bagel between their teeth. Those who aren't fussy may settle for a cold bagel, usually dressed up with a dollop of butter or cream cheese, bought from a corner vendor.

But the true connoisseurs buy them right out of the oven from one of the city's ubiquitous bagel bakeries, some of which bake and sell bagels 24/7.

Die-hard bagel enthusiasts aren't intimidated by the long lines that snake out the door on Sunday mornings. Rather, they relish the opportunity to breathe in the nose-tickling aroma of yeast mixed with toasted sesame seeds, garlic and onion.

"They're my favorite breakfast," Upper West Sider Brandy Wykes says while
standing in line at H&H Bagels on Broadway one busy Sunday morning. "I get
one every morning."

"You don't have to be Jewish to like them," adds Chuck Weisinger, a
Floridian who's buying two dozen onion to take home for himself and another
dozen for his parents. "Bagels are like comfort food. Spread on a little
cream cheese, a little Nova (a nickname for a type of smoked salmon). Hmmm-hmmm. My mother will be so excited."

Once mainly confined to New York and other cities with large Jewish populations, bagel bakeries have now sprung up all over the country. Mass-produced versions are available in supermarkets, at Dunkin' Donuts and even at McDonald's, where Breakfast Bagel Sandwiches go head-to-head with Egg McMuffins.

Sales of fresh, refrigerated and frozen bagels exceeded $600 million in 2000, according to the American Institute of Baking.

Still, many maintain that New York makes the best bagels around. Bagel Oasis
in Flushing Meadows, Queens has faithful customers -- many of them transplanted New Yorkers -- all over the United States.

"They know what a good bagel is and they can't get it where they've moved to," says Jim Robertson, co-owner of the 40-year-old bagel bakery, which ships fresh bagels by overnight or two-day delivery.

H&H Bagels, which frequently tops the "best bagels" lists compiled by local and national publications, ships "light-bake" bagels -- 90 percent baked and then flash frozen -- as far as Israel, China and Australia. Within the United States, the company will ship two dozen fresh bagels overnight for $45.

Why would someone pay nearly $2 for a New York bagel, when nearly everyone can pick up a locally produced one for about 60 cents?

"Why do people go to a good restaurant?" counters Helmer Toro, who co-founded H&H with his brother-in-law, Hector Hernandez, in 1972. "Our customers aren't just buying bagels; they're getting a whole experience. That's especially true for people who come from New York. Wherever they are, they miss good bagels." \

Next:Born to Bake Bagels

Holey Bagel: From New York With Love
Born to Bake Bagels
History of the Bagel: The Hole Story
How to Make a Bagel

ba-gel \'bagel\ n -s [Yiddish beygel, from Middle High German bougel (whence German dialect beugel, baugel), dim. of Middle High German boug-bouc ring, bracelet, from Old English boug; akin to Old English beag, beah ring, bracelet]: a hard roll shaped like a doughnut that is made of raised dough and cooked by simmering in water and then baked to give it a glazed browned exterior over a trim white interior
-- Webster's Third New International Dictionary