Bagels and More

Life is about revision, about the recognition that, at times, our view of the world rests on pudding, as Cornel West might say (or did say, at least on one occasion).

One of the joys of cooking and eating is being confronted with this very recognition on a regular basis. There is comfort in the predictable and the regular, no doubt, but new flavors can reorient. While I use it in cooking often, freshly roasted and ground cumin did this for me a few weeks ago, again. My first taste of the Heady Topper from The Alchemist brewery in Vermont recently hit that button as well. For me, bagels have done this time and time again. The bagel has graced these pages before: the great New York - Montreal bagel debate; bagel baking at home; and baking, water and lawsuits. Well, here it is once again.


The above bagel, a half-eaten salt bagel from Scratch Baking Company in South Portland, Maine, is most definitely my current favorite bagel in existence. (Will there be another that supersedes this one day, that turns my foundation to pudding? Surely. But for now, I hope not.) These bagels are beautifully seasoned, have a lovely browned, nicely textured crust and a light, airy crumb. For a few years now, Scratch has been the bakery that I most wish I could return to every slow Sunday morning. When Amber and I decided to spend last weekend in Portland, Scratch was first on the list of many destinations.


So, with night sky and quiet still settled over the city, we awoke at 4:15 am on Saturday morning, took quick showers, brushed the sleep out of our mouths, got dressed, grabbed our bags, and hit the road. The sun began to illuminate the sky as Massachusetts turned into New Hampshire, and the blinking red tail lights of the cars ahead of us, without the darkness, lost their intensity.

The almond bear claw - a seriously delicious almond croissant shaped like a bear's paw - makes its appearance on Saturday's only, and we wanted to get there before they sold out. As it turned out, we arrived before they were even out of the oven, at a crisp 7:15 am, fifteen minutes after the bakery opens for business.

Coffee. Bear claw. bagel.


Portland is home to other great bakeries, including the 158 Pickett Street Cafe, just down the road from Scratch. As a cafe, it's got a very different feel than Scratch, which is a walk in-get your stuff-walk out kind of place. Whereas Scratch is bright and open, 158 is well worn, cramped, and has more of an edge. More tattoos and black t-shirts. I almost expected to see a pirate flag flapping in the wind out front. And, of course, they make great bagels.*


Located across Casco Bay in Portland itself, The Standard Baking Company is also pretty amazing. Our stop here was brief, but what we got was wonderful: a scone and small fougasse.



What wasn't so wonderful were these bagels that I purchased at the Portland winter farmers' market. Sold by an "artisanal" baker, who shall remain nameless, they were underbaked, doughy, poorly seasoned and dense. I tried one, tied up the bag, and left the rest on a sidewalk bench hoping that someone would find and make use of them.


* For more on 158 and Scratch, read this piece that appeared in The Boston Globe in February, 2010.