Bay Area Bagel Makers Endure Eastern Snobbery While Creating Something Unique

San Francisco’s expanding community of bagel makers endures the baleful frowns, sneers and carping of East Coast purists (and snobs). Yet they forge ahead, developing their own versions of the “proper” bagel. The result of all the experimenting is a “distinctly Bay Area bagel.” They are chewy, complex, crusty, sure, but they also have a “snap,” writes reporter Jonathan Kauffman, a “hint of barley malt” and “hint of acidity” that one might associate with sourdough. Tthe unique flavor comes not from sourdough, however, but instead from a blend of commercial yeasts and natural leavening. Bay Area bakers say they’re not consciously trying to create something distinctly different from the East Coast bagel. But they do admit to calling them “West Coast style.”