The History of Bagels

It’s funny what little things we just take for granted and really have little knowledge of. Take bagels for instance. You probably already know that they are boiled before baking (they are the only bread product that is boiled), but do you know where they came from originally? Me either. I simply took my bagels for granted, enjoying the dense chewiness and crisp crust whenever I could without a single thought for their background and history. All that changed yesterday when my wife and I went to our favorite bagelry for some delicious bagel breakfast sandwiches.

Me: I guess we should enjoy these now because we probably won’t be able to get good bagels in Bangkok
Wifey: I’m not sure, we might find someplace. Are bagels from French?
Me: Ummmmm…I’m not really sure. I know we always think of New York bagels around here as being the best, but did they originate there? I don’t think they did, but I don’t think they come from France either. I guess I’ll have to find out.

So, find out I did because I’m just curious like that.

You might not be surprised to learn (although I was) that bagels were invented over 500 years ago in Poland! Now it might just be because I grew up within 100 miles of New York City, but I always thought of bagels in connection with Jewish people, but it turns out that they were invented in Poland long before the Jewish adopted them and even before that there was a similar bread product being made in Russia.

Jewish people took to bagels so well because of the short cooking time of the bagel. Jews are not permitted to cook during their Sabbath so having a bread that would cook quickly at the end of the Sabbath was convenient for them. A tradition sprung up in many observant Jewish families to make bagels on Saturday evenings.

These same Jewish families then brought the bagel with them to London in the 19th century and the America and Canada in the early 20th century. The bagel business in New York City was controlled by a bagel bakers union (the Bagel Bakers Local 338) for many decades, which explains why I always think of Jewish in connection with bagels.

So, there you have it, a quick history of the bagel and here as promised are my first photos taken with the new Nikon D3100. Thanks to my beautiful wife for the camera and thanks to The New York Bagelry for the delicious breakfast. And to answer my own statement…I don’ think there are many Eastern European Jews that emigrated to Thailand so finding good bagels in Bangkok might be a bit dicey. You and I will have to wait to find out.

Posted in Bread, Breakfast, Russia | Tagged , | 18 Comments

Choosing a DSLR Camera for Food Photography

I’m soooooo excited! Monday I finally received my Christmas/B-day gift…a new Nikon D3100 DSLR complete with the stock 18-55mm Nikkor AF-S VR Lens as well as the AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED Lens and some other assorted goodies. Can you say kid in a candy store!

Nikon D3100 DSLR

Now I can say I am by no means a photographer. Until recently I had little interest in photography and never owned anything better than a point and shoot camera; and I wasn’t even particularly good with that. This started changing when my daughter was born 8 months ago. I started to enjoy taking pictures of her especially, but also of other things. Then I started Eating Bangkok and yes I realize it’s my skill that will make the most difference in my photography, but I felt I should at least have decent tools to help me be all I could be as a photographer. Plus I’m a guy and you know how we love our expensive electronic toys!

I spent quite some time looking at the differences between digital SLR’s. Canon’s Rebel XT series is a very nice camera, but at the end of the day I felt Nikon was a better camera overall, not necessarily because the body is better, but I felt the Nikkor lenses are better (although waaay expensive in many cases). So, at this point I was left choosing between the Nikon D90 and the Nikon D3100 (which is what I got). How did I choose between the two?

To be honest by most accounts these are quite similar camera’s. The major differences are sensors, lens compatibility, monitors, HD movie capability, and full-time autofocus for video.

The D3100 beats the D90 by 1.9 megapixels with it’s 14.2mp sensor. Not huge, but it’s something. The D3100 also has better high ISO performance, important if you are taking pictures in low light which I will be.

In terms of lens compatibility the D90 is the winner hands down, with one caveat. I say its the winner because the D90 will auto focus with any Nikkor lens, while the D3100 will only auto focus with the newer (and more expensive) AF-S lenses. If I already had a bunch of older lenses this might be a concern for me, but since I’m just starting out, not so much. I also think that getting an older lens that I am forced to manual focus (I’m thinking the prime 50mm f1.8 lens) will be good for my development as a photographer.

The monitor is a big difference in these two camera’s also. The D90 has the professional grade 920,000 resolution monitor which is sweet, while the D3100 comes with a much lower resolution monitor. I plan on using the viewfinder anyway, so this for me is another non-issue. The high resolution monitor would surely be nice, but not necessary.

Next up we come to HD movie capability. The D3100 has brilliant 1080p full HD movie capabilities while the D90 falls short with just 720p capabilities. To be sure the D90 is an older model and was the first Nikon to feature HD movie capability at all, but in this day the D3100 wins. And to sweeten the pot the D3100 has full time auto focus to go along with the 1080p HD movies!

Considering that I will be using the camera both for food photography here as well as doing short movies (yep I’m doing movies from Bangkok) the HD movie functionality was a game changer for me. Plus the D3100 is a couple hundred dollars cheaper than the D90, which always helps.

So, that was my thought process in choosing a new DSLR camera to help me become a better photographer for all our sakes. :)

I am guessing that many of you take photos for your blogs as well and I’m curious to know what type of camera you are currently using. Also, if the cost wasn’t an issue what camera do you think you would LIKE to use? I’ll be looking forward to the responses and I can tell you that tomorrow you’ll get a glimpse at some of the first pictures I’ve taken with my new baby.

Posted in Food Photography | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

Laab Gai (Thai Spicy Chopped Chicken)

Laab is a very popular and widely available dish throughout all of Thailand. This version is made with chicken, but you can find varieties of laab made with almost every type of protein. And there are both cooked and raw varieties as well. The one thing that binds ALL of the laab dishes together though is the fact that they are chopped meats and that they are spicy. The nice thing about making dishes like this at home is that you can adjust the level of heat to suit your own palate. Because you have to trust me when I tell you that when you get a laab dish in Thailand it is nuclear hot!

Laab Gai is a spicy chopped chicken salad. Quite simply “Laab” means “chopped” and “Gai” means “chicken”. You can serve it as a side dish or as an appetizer or even as an entree if you like. Thais typically serve multiple dishes at meals and will eat just small amounts of each thing. It’s really quite wonderful as you get to taste so many different things when eating this way. Whenever we go out with all of Golf’s friends in Bangkok (maybe 10-12 people or more) we will usually end up ordering 10 or more different things of the menu and then eating them family style. This works wonderfully for me because otherwise there are many dishes I would have never tried on my own.

Laab gai is also a very quick and easy dish. The chicken cooks in minutes, and then all you need to do is add the other ingredients and toss. Please chop your chicken by hand for an authentic dish as the texture of ground chicken from the store is not the same. If you are fairly quick at chopping herbs and vegetables you can have this dish on the table in as little as 10 minutes from start to finish.

Laab Gai (Serves 2)

  • 200 grams breast chicken coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup shallots, sliced thinly
  • 2 spring onions, coarsely sliced
  • 2 tbsp coriander, coarsely sliced
  • 2 tbsp mint leaf, coarsely sliced
  • 3 tbsp lime juice
  • 1 1/2 tbsp Thai Fish Sauce
  • 1 tbsp (or less) Thai chili powder
  • 1 tbsp Roasted Rice Powder (can use unseasoned breadcrumbs)
  • 1/4 tsp seasoning powder (Rod Dee)
  • 1 cucumber, sliced

Put the chicken in a wok and fry over medium heat until it is white and done. Turn off the heat and transfer to a mixing bowl. Add shallots, spring onion, coriander, and mint leaves and toss lightly. Season the chicken to taste with lime juice, fish sauce and Rod Dee. Sprinkle chili powder and ground roasted rice powder over the mixture and mix well.

Arrange on serving dish and serve with fresh vegetables like cucumber, cabbage and long beans.

Laab Gai or Thai Spicy Chicken

Posted in Chicken, Chili, Thailand | Tagged , , | 4 Comments