Who Really Fathered the Everything Bagel?
According to the New Yorker this week, the everything bagel was created 30 years ago, when then teenager David Gussin was sweeping up burnt seed scraps at a Queens, New York, bagel shop. He saved them in a bin, and voilà—another flukelike creation story. But was Gussin really first? According to Seth Godin, an author on marketing tactics and theories, he was already making them in 1977, not "around 1980," as Gussin claimed in the piece.
Godin said in an email just now that Gussin's seed-sweeping story is "crazy." He clarified, "you add the seeds when the bagels are on the wet burlap...the burnt seeds in the oven get pretty incinerated and you wouldn't want to use em." Godin thought back to his creation moment—he just sprinkled and tossed the seeds on top. "Lo and behold, it was good." But since Godin's bagel shop was in Buffalo, not the Bronx, it's been overlooked by the bagel elite.
Godin hasn't contacted the New Yorker. "What are the chances they'd correct it?" He did recount another tragic bagel story, however, when he was cleaning a four-foot-tall stand mixer and the blade grabbed his hand, almost pulling him in. "But that's another story." Sore finger and ego?
If Godin actually did invent the everything bagel, the concept will join "permission marketing" and "the meatball sundae" on Godin's idea-making resume.
About the author: Erin Zimmer, our Washington, D.C., correspondent, is a new media analyst and frequently writes for Washingtonian, DCist, and other local publications. While Georgetown's food columnist, she investigated the cafeteria's omelet station, Hoya coffeeshop's cultish pumpkin muffins, and what exactly the basketball players ate.
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17 Comments:
Satan?
seyo at 6:15PM on 03/10/08
Al Gore. Duh.
bookofjoe at 9:34PM on 03/10/08
I've never eaten an everything bagel. I usually stick to plain, cinnamon raisin, or sometimes asiago cheese. It does look pretty good though.
apsteph at 11:19PM on 03/10/08
When I was in college back in the late 60's, I worked at a local Carvel stand. Every now and then one of us would make a mistake ie a sundae with chocolate icre cream instead of a vanilla, a large cone instead of a small, etc.
The owner, either smart or cheap, came up with the idea of just dumping these mistakes into a 5 gallon tub and freezing them. And then he called it "Treasure Island". It was the single most popular flavor we had - people would buy 1/2 gallons of the stuff!
What has this got to do with an everything bagel? Who knows what whimsy created that? A mistake perhaps? :)
PS - My opinion? There should only be 3 types of bagels - plain, poppy, and sesame. And maybe a garlic. Asiago? Feh!
JeffsInTheKitchen at 7:24AM on 03/11/08
Thank you, Jeff! By me, if you can't put lox on it it isn't a bagel. Forget the everything bagel. I want to know who invented the Asiago, raisin and chocolate bagels. I want to slap them silly.
RichardCrystal at 9:38AM on 03/11/08
I personally love a good everything bagel, but since I'm not a New Yorker my opinion probably doesn't count when it comes to bagels!
BTW, why can't you put lox on an everything bagel? I'm pretty sure I remember doing it and it was delicious...... Don't laugh- I'm not from New York.
amber at 10:34AM on 03/11/08
ahhh the everything bagel. the downfall of my low-carb diet. and i just imagine think that a whole grain whole wheat version would be as tasty! too bad (or maybe it's a good thing) there are no bagel places close to my work - or that's what i'd be having for lunch!
samedog at 1:17PM on 03/11/08
@amber...Lox is wonderful on an everything bagel! I just can't stand how the bagel has been bastardized. I mean, Asiago cheese bagels?? Gimme a break!
RichardCrystal at 2:36PM on 03/11/08
Sesame seeds only. I can't even look at the everything bagel. ewwww!
PerkyMac at 2:40PM on 03/11/08
Taking inspiration from Starbucks, they should make After-Everything Bagel Mints.
Erin Zimmer at 3:29PM on 03/11/08
Erin,
I've just featured your superb reporting in a post on my blog:
http://www.bookofjoe.com/2008/03/origin-of-the-e.html
Best,
Joe
bookofjoe at 4:27PM on 03/11/08
Check out the story on NPR...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=88177941
lolly at 9:04PM on 03/14/08
I will allow cinnamon-raisin bagels to exist alongside plain, poppy and sesame. If you want an onion bagel get a bialy.
Have egg bagels vanished?
CapeCodBob at 1:24AM on 03/16/08
Hey, easy on the onion bagels. Before the Everything Bagel those were my favorites. Plus, the onions used in the center of bialy (moist) are quite a bit different than those thicker, crunchier type onion seeds used on the bagel.
My favorite bagel sandwich: Toasted Everything Bagel, on one half cream cheese and salty lox, on other half butter and American cheese.
As far as controversy. I believe it's over. What's in a name? When it comes to the Everything Bagel, I believe everything.
The Everything Bagel at 3:00PM on 03/16/08
I don't care who "invented" it, I just thank them every time I order one! Toasted with veggie cream cheese, please!
SayWhat at 4:46PM on 03/16/08
CapeCodBob:
Haven't seen egg bagels in years - and bialys seem to have disappeared from most bagel shops as well.
You should know that bialys and bagels are made from different flours. And the onions in the center are usually caramelized - not toasted like on bagels.
As far as I know, the only purveyor of quality bialys these days is Kossars on the lower east side....
And has everyone forgotten pletzels and onion boards? Oy, such aches I have for those on a Saturday night....
JeffsInTheKitchen at 2:51PM on 03/17/08
Warm from the bakery in the Rockaways. Second that thought. Some years ago, I reluctantly added the everything bagel to my list of REAL bagels - plain, onion, poppy, salt, garlic. Cinammon-raisin, cheese? Why not just go to DunkinStarbucksAuBon Pain for a bagel? Now, let's find out who "invented" the black and white bagel. Maybe, it was the poster who worked at Carvel.
nickdanger at 4:48PM on 03/17/08