Making bagels and more eating (January 2015)

Gemma arranged as a Christmas present for us to learn the art of making bagels. Seeing as we have become experts in eating them, it was really good fun learning how to make them ourselves.

First off, the dough.

Leave to prove for 20 minutes.

Roll out into cigars.

Turn the long piece into a loop.

The essential step to a classic New York bagel is the boiling before baking. This gives starts the cooking process and is what gives the bagel its distinctive chew.

Quick brush of egg white to ensure the topping sticks.

There were various toppings to choose from, from poppy and sesame seeds to onion flakes.

The finished product.

The very first dim sum restaurant in Chinatown is called Nom Wah Tea Parlor. We tried it one weekend, and although the food was quite good, we have become Chinatown experts now and the soup dumplings in particular did not match those that we have found elsewhere.

The restaurant is located on Doyers Street. This is one of the most distinctive streets in New York, due to it's right-angled turn. The street was known as the "Bloody Angle" due to the gang fights that took place frequently around the turn of the 20th Century. The street was ideal for street battles not just due to the right-angle turn, but the tunnels that connected the buildings. Hatchets were a common weapon of choice, leading to the expression "hatchet man". More people died violently at the Bloody Angle than any other street intersection in the US.

The sweet pork bun was pretty good.

Another culinary landmark - America's first pizzeria - is Lombardi's on Spring Street. The original location - a few buildings down from it's current location - opened up in 1895.

One of it's specialities is the clam pie - a simple white pizza with garlic, olive oil, fresh clams and parsley, with lemon wedges. It was really good.

As if a large pizza was not enough in the way of carbohydrates, we stopped off at Rice to Riches, which is rice pudding parlor. Notice how even the window is shaped like a rice grain.
We tried two flavours, one was mascarpone and the second dried cherries. Will definitely be coming back! Rice to Riches is a bit of an infamous spot since a few years ago it was closed down due to it being the front for some gang-related gambling ring and money laundering activities (it is in Little Italy, after all!).

We caught a lovely sunset on the way home:

We'll finish this blog with Jasper trying to hide from the vet. It didn't work!