In Praise of Bagels (and related wheat-based goodies).

I am often asked what I eat for breakfast most days. Being a creature of habit I tend to eat the same thing, with minor adjustments, most days for Breakfast.

Being a Vegan certainly has not robbed me of breakfast options. Scrambled Tofu, Pancakes, Breakfast Sandwiches, Corn Bread/Muffins/Cakes, Biscuits and Gravy, Grits and Greens, Veggie Sausage, Spicy Potatoes, Donuts (which can be a lot of work), not to mention things like cereal, toast, oatmeal, fresh fruit, or the occasional non-traditional breakfast of leftovers (PIZZA!). I tend to eat in seasons, and by "seasons," I mean that whatever season it is tends to impact me differently.

In the Autumn, I like Corn Muffins, Blackberry Jelly, Coffee with Creamer (I use the So Delicious Coconut Creamer brands). In the Winter, Biscuits and Gravy are all I think about. Spring is Grits with Greens (usually Kale and Onions) and gravy, sometimes with Vegan Chorizo and salsa. Once a week we tend to go out to our favorite Vegan breakfast spot (Veggie Galaxy in Boston's Central Square), or maybe make something different than what we had the other five days. Summers seem the most awesome to me, at least they do these days, because they are all about the Bagel. We live near one of the Top Ten Rated Bagel shops in the country, Kuppels, and their bagels are AMAZING, and they make all types of Tofu Cream Cheese to go with them. I literally wake up each day thinking about them, craving them, with a piece of fruits and two cups of coffee.

Personally, I don't understand, nor do I respect this whole "gluten-free" craze in the USA. Yes, if you have a legitimate disease, I understand that and I honor your issues, but the vast majority of people from the USA are treating bagels, bread products, wheat products like the village Witch, and they are waging a war  against them. The amount of people in this country with LEGITIMATE wheat allergies is LOW, very low (1 in every 133 people have some form of wheat allergy, but celiac disease needs to be confirmed by doctors through a series of tests, and stories of people with false diagnosis are nearly as high, and usually among people self-diagnosing) but what is very high is the mind-think that goes, "well others are allergic to it, maybe I am as well, I must be, I have to be, here are my symptoms," and those symptoms are phantom symptoms, created in the head, acted out in the body, and manifested into sensations pretending to be real sickness in the body. I confess that for a while I thought I had a gluten-allergy as well, because I was gaining weight suddenly, and then I realized, once I started counting calories and examining what I was eating, I was just eating around 4000 calories a day, and eating far too many processed foods; no need to discard wheat because I was not eating responsibly.

Listen, I agree, stay away from processed foods. BUT, make your own bread, go to real bakeries and buy real bread and real bagels, make your own pasta. True, there are modified food products out there, strains of wheat being messed with: stay away from them. BUT to miss out on one of life's REAL pleasures, homemade bread, artisan-bakery made bread and bagels, is a serious loss to the experience of being alive and caring about the quality of food that enters your life, the great bakers and chefs who are passionate about offering quality food and fine culinary creations.

As a Vegan, I make choices about what I eat and where it comes from. One of the great perks of switching to this lifestyle was that I got to keep eating great food, while discovering a whole new range of creations and flavors and tastes. I make a trip each week to buy bagels and bread from a local family-owned bakery. I know the people who make it, who sell it, I'm part of a culture that values real Jewish baking, and I know where my food comes from. Transitioning into a Vegan lifestyle means that this rich life experience gets to continue. Sure, I cannot eat the cinnamon twists or the babka or the mundel bread: those I have to make at home on my own. But I don't want to see great bakeries fold, and I don't want to see these old family businesses shut down, I want them to see that Vegans want to do business with them, and I appreciate that they do offer Vegan-friendly products, and I want them to offer more.

Also, as a former history major, I love the history of foods. Wheat products were first turned into food for human consumption some 23,000+ years ago, right as Neolithic people's began to spread into organized civilizations. Bread appears in ancient Sumeria, Assyria, Babylon, Turkey, India, Greece, Rome, Germanic societies, Etruscan civilization: where great civilizations have appeared, wheat products have been there to feed the people, be a part of their rituals and celebrations, empower their brains to develop and expand to think deep, complex thoughts.

The bagel is a product deeply rooted in Polish-Jewish culture, and as such, is rooted deeply in North American Jewish culture, a staple of great Jewish communities as well as the communities and peoples that grow up around and with them. I (Dar) grew up in a very Italian-American culture, but bagels and other Jewish baked goods were a staple of our weekend traditions, whether it was my family in New Haven (CT) or Elizabeth (NJ). The bagel itself first appears in a Jewish historical document in 1610 CE, mentioning that it was given to Jewish women as a gift during childbirth, its shape symbolizing the safe passage from womb into life. I like thinking about the bagel as a birthing amulet, a symbol, a charm, an element of the feminine divine that I bring into being, one that mothers and nourishes me each time I take part in it.  

So, if you are switching to a Vegan lifestyle, wondering what you can eat for breakfast, bagels, tofu cream cheese, toast made with fresh rye or pumpernickel or marble bread (add a little earth balance, coconut sugar, and cinnamon, and you have a wonderful cinnamon toast), a great way to start off each day, a great go-to breakfast when you are on the road. If you are already a Vegan, and you don't have celiac disease, don't give up on wheat. Buy organic wheat products, have a weekly bread/muffins/cookies bake with your friends, family, or loved ones, visit local bakeries and get to know them, take a baking class, take part in the tradition of turning a wild stalk into a fine powder and then into a carb-packing ball of wonder, warmth, and joy.