Phantom Gourmet: Bagelsaurus In Cambridge
CAMBRIDGE - Some people say that authentic New York style bagels have become extinct, but at one Cambridge eatery, crusty, artisan, hand-crafted bagels are served piping hot, pulled from the oven moments before they hit your mouth.
"Boston in general is not known as a bagel town," said Mary Ting Hyatt, founder of Bagelsaurus. "People love bagels and they were looking for them."
Mary is a talented baker and lifelong bagel fanatic. So when she couldn't find a bagel that lived up to her demanding specifications, she started experimenting in her own kitchen.
"When I started making them at home I realized, 'Wow, I really love making bagels.'"
The kitchen at Bagelsaurus is always a flurry of activity. They bake their bagels in small batches, so there's a constant flow of dough being mixed, shaped, boiled and baked at all times.
"We specialize in hand made, self-fermented bagels, creative spreads and sandwiches," explained Mary. "From the mix, to the final boiling and baking, the process of making a bagel takes about 24 hours. It takes a lot of patience the way we do it."
It all starts in giant mixers, with the precise combination of water, special sourdough starter, malt syrup, flour, yeast and salt. All of those ingredients are blended until the perfect consistency is reached and then the dough rests.
"We let the dough hang out for a few hours at room temperature. As it sits it strengthens and gains flavor," Mary explained.
After the dough rests and rises, Mary and her team portion and shape each beautiful bagel by hand.
"We scale each one to the proper weight, and then we round each dough ball. Then we do our final bagel shaping, basically sticking our thumb in the middle and easing it out."
They "put them to bed" overnight and the next morning, the bagels are woken to a bath in boiling water.
"The boiling water gelatinizes the starches on the crust of the bagel leading to that thin crispy shell," Mary explained. "Without that boil you won't get that shiny exterior, so it's really key to bagel making."
From there they're seeded, baked and served piping hot.
There are traditional flavors like Cinnamon Raisin, Sesame, Everything and Garlic, and some flavors you may have never seen before, like Pretzel and Black Olive.
"Pretzel is really interesting. It really tastes like a hybrid of a German soft pretzel and a bagel. Great with mustard butter," Mary offered.
Mustard Butter, along with almond butter, and a bevy of creative cream cheeses are just some of the spreads that Mary and her team make in house, but according to her, the bagels are so good - you probably don't need 'em.
"I believe that a bagel should be able to be enjoyed without the addition of cream cheese. The base dough should be flavorful enough to enjoy on its own."
If you do like some added flavor on your bagel, you can opt for a pizza bagel, made as a special when the kitchen feels like getting creative. There are also three sensational sandwiches available all the time, like the Breakfast Sandwich - topped with a fried egg, cheddar, bacon, avocado and mustard butter on the bagel of your choice; or something called the 'Hot Smoked', loaded up with smoked salmon, cream cheese, apple and a parsley caper salad. Customers with a monstrous appetite should bite into the T-Rex, a sweet and satisfying sandwich.
"It's a really special treat, reminiscent of Elvis' favorite sandwich: the peanut butter, bacon and banana" Mary told us. "We make our almond butter in house, and we have great bacon. So we layer that on with thinly sliced banana, finish it with honey. It's a really savory sweet, confusing, delicious combination."
While they technically are supposed to stay open until 3 p.m., these hand crafted bagels are so special, they've been known to sell out early.
"Basically we're treating each bagel like a beautiful piece of artisan bread. Our goal isn't mass production. We just want each bagel to be truly excellent and memorable. I'm hoping our customers feel like they've stumbled across somewhere really special; that they think, 'Oh, I never knew a bagel could be like this!' That's what we're going for."
You can find Bagelsaurus at 1796 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, and online at bagelsaurus.com.
Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.
