Overall, I’m a more is more girl, whether we’re talking fashion or bagels. Not once have I uttered the words “Gee I wish this bagel were skimpier.” This, apparently, is where my path diverges from the Barefoot Contessa herself, Ina Garten. The interwebs have resurrected a 2012 clip from Ina’s show where she slices two bagels into three slices each, so she can make three (slim) smoked salmon and herbed cream-cheese sandwiches from the two bagels. People had strong opinions on slicing a bagel into thirds (though some of the commentary stemmed from a misconception that she was making a triple decker bagelwich). Everything from fast food to cultural identity was invoked, so WaPo dispatched their food reporter Emily Heil to investigate Bagelgate:
The flap involved a resurfaced moment from a 2012 episode of her long-running Food Network show in which she prepared a picnic lunch for herself and her husband, Jeffrey, to eat on a trip to Brooklyn, where they planned to visit her childhood home. (Fans will recognize this as a typically charming, slightly theme-y show setup.) For the smoked salmon and herbed cream-cheese bagel sandwiches that were the meal’s centerpiece, Ina does something unconventional. “I’m doing it with a twist,” she says. “Instead of having a big thick bagel, I like to cut it in thirds. So instead you have a nice little sandwich. I think it tastes better.”
Basically, the technique involves cutting the bagel horizontally twice so that you get three rounds instead of the usual two. That means two bagels yield six slices, which are used to make three sandwiches (math!). The beauty of this is that it means each one of the resulting sandwiches has far less of that doughy middle, which is sometimes a turnoff for people (like me!) who prefer a lower bread-to-filling ratio than traditional bagel sandwiches offer.
But here’s where many people misunderstood what Our Lady of the Denim Shirt was telling us to do — the initial post on X that seemed to kick off the controversy merely showed a picture of the three-tiered bagel (after she cut it but before she constructed it into a sandwich), making people incorrectly assume that she was making a triple-stacked bagel sandwich, using the kind of layering that defines a Big Mac or a club. This, I agree, does not sound like a great idea. And it might explain why some people were aghast. “‘I like to turn my bagels into two bagel crisps and a piece of unwieldy toast’ said the noted celebrity TV chef,” one responded. “This is what we really created Cancel Culture for!”
“Everything can be a Big Mac if you want it hard enough,” wrote another. “Ina’s been hitting the sauce again,” a skeptic concluded, referring to the TV chef’s hilarious pandemic-era video in which she prepared a massive pitcher of Cosmos.
Still, some people who misunderstood the instructions actually like the multilayered concoction (or at least the idea of it), with several praising it for allowing maximum cream-cheese adherence. “Two layers of schmear. She is a visionary,” a fan wrote.
Others merely objected to tinkering with what they think of as perfection. “As a new york jew this is a crime against me and my people,” one wrote.
The Food Network even got in on the faux-troversy, posting a video of the full clip on TikTok. “If you think you know where this is going, you don’t,” read one caption. “We vote for a triple decker bagel next!!” a later one enthused.
While I am not of the persuasion that a bagel can be too doughy, I know that this demographic exists and acknowledge their right to be wrong exist. But really, at a certain point don’t you just have to admit you want slices of bread instead! And I want to know with regards to Ina and Jeffrey specifically: so three sandwiches are made for two people… who gets the third bagelwich? Is it split in half, thus necessitating the introduction of a VERTICAL cut?? Would it not be simpler to make two bagelwiches for two people? Or is the third ‘wich just schlepped around for the outing, only to be brought back home and stashed in the fridge, with the question of who has dibs just hovering in the air.
But more importantly, how is it we’re not talking about the fact that she doesn’t toast the bagel first??!!
Ina Garten's bagel-slicing technique has divided the internet and we don't know how to feel about it… 🥯https://t.co/BZ0K5sX3Cm
— Good Morning America (@GMA) March 19, 2024
Photos are screenshots from Food Network video
We do this, but it’s still one whole bagel per person, so it’s just a way of getting more yummy toppings onto your bagel, especially handy when you are in the mood for several different toppings and can’t decide which to have. I like to do one with peanut butter, one with cream cheese, and one with plain butter.
I do this for ALL my bread buns cos all I want is the toppings! 3x the butter, 3x the cheese…. why not!?
I am all about crispness, so I slice a bagel into 3, 4 or 5 pieces depending on my dexterity! And toast it.
Team crispiness here too. I commit the sacrilage of toasting the bagel and then scooping out the middle.
My mind is blown. I will thrice slice bagels from now on to maximise bagel to topping AND extra crispness as a result of thinner slices. What a brilliant idea! Thanks Ina (a decade late)
WTF Ina, not toasting is completely unacceptable. The warm toasty goodness of a fresh bagel is delightful. Anyway, this is not great but better than the travesty of people who pull out the soft bready center before making a bagel sandwich to reduce carbs.
I live in NYC and we have flat bagels. Problem solved.
I live in Montreal, and our bagels are already pretty thin to begin with – they’re maybe half the thickness of the one shown in this post. I can’t fathom being able to slice it in thirds, it can already be tricky enough slicing it in half haha.
My husband slices the bagel into 3. I prefer the 2 slice bagel.
(I am still shocked at the calories in one bagel – yikes.)
One bagel = 6 slices of white bread. Straight from the mouth of the founder of a bagel store during factory tour.
I slice it like that just to reduce the size of the bagel and save calories. Also if the bagel is fresh I don’t toast it either.
I’m going to have to try this the next time I’m having a bagel. I love the flavor and texture of a good bagel. But a full size one, especially in sandwich form is too much for my mouth and jaw (too many years of gum chewing in my youth I suspect).
And any flat “bagel” I’ve ever tried doesn’t quite come close enough to actual bagel flavor and texture for my taste (it’s like flatbread “pizza” to me: it’s not actual pizza, but something else that would be fine if the people selling it would not claim it’s pizza (especially if no where in their menu do they mention they use flatbread instead of actual pizza dough) )
Also how not surprising that online outrage stems almost entirely on people going off halfcocked ranting about something that didn’t actually happen (a three tier bagel sandwich)
As a NYer who grew up on bagels and is firmly on the bagels-are-too-doughy team, the answer is simple–bialys. Or, of course, scooped out bagels, but I expect some incoming for even mentioning that controversial option.
My mom was diabetic and she used to cut a bagel in thirds and throw out the middle, to cut down on the carbs from the bagel. I just quit eating bagels altogether. They’re too big and doughy. I remember when I was little, bagels were much smaller, and they were better. They cooked better when they were smaller.
And another thing, when I was little, croissants were tiny little things. Finger sized niblets. Not these huge things you can make a sandwich out of. Bigger is not always better.
@ N2NY, Haha I wigged out up above about scooping bagels 😂. You do you, though!
Except THAT one decision, I’ll always concur and accept anything Ina decides, and it will automatically be correct in my eyes, so
If I wanted a skinny bagel then I’d buy Bagel Thins!
Somehow I went my whole life without knowing about mini bagels until last year. They’re a much more reasonable size and, now that I’ve switched, regular bagels seem absurdly big and I can’t believe I used to eat them.
Just get a traditional bagel — they’re much smaller. Or a bialy. I think that the point of a bagel is the texture of the shiny, slightly chewy outside. So that means two yummy bagel sandwiches and one not so yummy one, or even two not so yummy ones for those of us who would be very disappointed with those insides-only slices.
Ok, now I’m craving a spinach bagel — one of my favorite modern travesties.
As a former Montrealer I rolled my eyes at this crime against humanity! 😉 (Which as another poster commented above – I don’t think you could even DO that with genuine Montreal bagels)
ina, ina, ina. i see no reason to slice a bagel into thirds unless some scooping is involved. it’s good with a top and a bottom (and the way God meant it to be), and YES it must also be toasted. but then again, i am not a fan of the club sandwich either. too much bread and too big in my hand. not that i don’t love me some carbs, mind you. I woofed down a very large portion of popcorn on saturday night. was it burnt? a little bit. But pile on enough butter and salt….and who cares?
This is a St. Louis thing, but it’s gonna blow your minds: bread sliced bagels!