The Bagel - er, Water - Controversy

A za'atar, Aleppo pepper, salt bagel*

A sesame seed bagel*

In the shower this morning, Dr. Bronner's** peppermint soap suds dripping and burning into my eyes, through the steady stream of hot water, I heard a brief story on the radio - on NPR - about a bagel maker in Florida which claims to use New York-style water in its bagel recipe, thereby creating a bagel the likes of which you can only get in, well, New York City.

As it turns out, there's more to the story that I didn't hear as I winced and rubbed at the soap and its cool sting.

David Goodman explains on the New York Times City Room blog, "The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company says it has developed a process that can 'Brooklynize' the local water and it charges another restaurant, Mamma Mia’s Trattoria & Brick Oven Pizzeria, stole the technology."

So, a Florida bagel maker is suing a Florida pizza maker for stealing its New York City-style water? (And there's a countersuit, of course.) Huh?

A few paragraphs into his account, Goodman asks the all important question, "But how does one give Florida water a Brooklyn accent anyway?"

Exactly.

And, if that weren't enough, Larry King is involved. Suspenders and all.

* I made the above bagels this past weekend. I followed the same Peter Reinhart recipe as I did here, bumped up the salt a bit, boiled them in water with a few dashes of baking soda, which I had left out previously, and had much better results: better crust, coloring and chew. Oh, and the water: from Somerville, MA.

**Has anyone ever actually read the label? I mean, in word-for-word detail?