It's National Bagel Day! So How Do You Like Your Bagel?

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Jan. 15 is National Bagel Day, celebrating one of New York City's most iconic foods.

Introduced to the United States by Polish-Jewish immigrants in the late 19th century, the torus-shaped breads were made by hand until the 1960s when the bagel maker came along. The last quarter of the 20th century was when the bagels craze struck and their popularity spread across the country.

People top their bagels with all kinds things: Meats, cheeses, and especially in NYC, belly-cut salmon prepared typically three different ways...

• Smoked Salmon: Cured with cold or hot smoke.
• Lox: Cured in salt-sugar rub or brine.
• Nova: Cured and then cold-smoked.

New Jersey tried declaring itself bagel capital of the world Wednesday, but the NYPD wasn't having it.

Mayor Bill de Blasio, meanwhile, tweeted his favorite bagels are from Bagel Hole in Park Slope, where his order is whole wheat, toasted, extra cream cheese.

The only problem – Bagel Hole doesn't even have a toaster.

"We don't toast our bagels," manager Raul Perez said. "They come fresh out of the oven, so they're already hot, and we're confident in our bagels so, you know, you don't need a toaster for that."

Hizzoner later deleted the tweet and reposted it without the T word, but the damage was already done.

One Twitter user wrote, "It's a Park Sloper's DREAM to catch the mayor in such a brazen bagel-related flub."

"You're not supposed to get your bagel toasted," one man said.

"Why's he going there? If he wants his bagels toasted, he's gotta go somewhere else," Park Slope resident Stephanie Lemer said.

De Blasio hasn't had a food gaffe this bad since he ate pizza with a fork and knife in 2014.

"He's not a real New Yorker, we all know that," one man said.

In response to his toasted mix-up, the mayor said he must "have a hole in his memory," but even still, some toaster oven fans came to his defense.

"It's the crispiness of it, it adds flavor," one man said.

"It doesn't get soggy," another man said.

"I think whatever you want on your bagel is fine," one woman said.

Perhaps that's a compromise everyone can get behind. After all, Bagel Day is supposed to bring us together, united against whoever orders those tye-dye bagels.

So how do you like your bagel? Cast your votes below...

(© Copyright 2020 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company, contributed to this report.)

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