Enjoying a bagel and a schmear in Beijing
This is a story filled with holes. That’s usually taboo in journalism, because it means questions are unanswered. But read on to understand.
You see, in many ways Beijing, where I now reside, is much like my previous home near New York City. But one thing I’ve sought since arriving is a good New York bagel. Actually, a bagel and a schmear.
Let me explain. For those who’ve never had one, a bagel is a plump round bread roll with — yes — a hole in the middle. Its consistency is similar to a hot, fresh pretzel. A schmear? Well, it can be either a noun or a verb, but basically it’s a dollop of cream cheese spread over the doughy goodness that is a bagel sliced in half. So you can say, “I need to schmear the cream cheese over the bagel”, or at a deli in Manhattan, it’s “Gimme a bagel and a schmear.”
The first two bagel encounters, at markets, were Montreal-style; good but not moist and chewy.
But then Avi Shabtai and his wife Shuly entered the picture. They’ve owned Biteapitta, a restaurant and bakery in Sanlitun North, for a dozen or so years. He bakes pita breads at his Mediterranean-style restaurant. But a while ago, he started baking bagels just for special orders. He figured he has a bakery, so why not?
The couple are from Israel and had never tasted a New York bagel, but their son lives in the Big Apple. He expressed samples over. Avi learned the technique to make New York bagels — the dough is formed and then boiled before baking — and began selling bagels. Various seeds can be added to the exterior and sweets such as raisins and cinnamon can be added to the interior — preferably not at the same time. He even has a special toaster to crisp the interior just right while making the exterior crunchy.
At The Bookworm Beijing bookshop, also in the Sanlitun-Soho area, you can have a bagel and a schmear with lox, which is thin-sliced smoked and salted salmon. Yum.
David Cantalupo, an investor in the eatery/reading room/bookstore/bar who is from New Jersey, said they’re always updating the menu, including bagels. It’s the name of the game in the restaurant business.
A story about bagels would have a hole if one didn’t ask the rabbi’s wife. Dini Freundlich, wife of Rabbi Shimon Freundlich of the local Chabad House, said she doesn’t generally dine out because she and her husband eat only kosher foods. But they did place a special kosher order at Mrs. Shanen’s Bagels, “and they were delicious”. Dini operates the only kosher eatery in Beijing, in the Lido area. She doesn’t sell bagels, though.
There are other places selling bagels, so this is one editor looking for more holes to fill — preferably with a schmear.