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A short video still featuring a woman with blonde hair and a text overlay that reads "Things I prefer in the US as a German" with American and German flag emojis, and further states "I don't know why we don't have bagels in Germany."
Above this, the social media post caption reads "I can think of a reason!" The post is from "Vikram Bath @vikrambath.bsky.social."
Of course we have bagels in Germany. But with a good Baker having one or two dozen variants of rolls anyway, nobody actually needs defect rolls with a hole in the middle.
Tell me you've never had a decent bagel without telling me you've never had a decent bagel. A bagel is not a roll.
I never said either was better, just different.
Maybe bagels are better than American rolls, but that is not exactly aiming high. Have you ever tried German rolls? Because after that, you won't touch bagels anymore, unless you go back to the US. And yes, I've had them all, and I don't understand how you can stand those squishy, HFCS-loaded things.
You're either responding to the wrong comment. Can't read. Or you think straw man arguments are valid.
I never said either was better, just that's it's foolish to confuse or compare the two.
Another European here. Might be because I'm into baking but I don't think a bagel should be classified as a roll. Bagels are boiled in water prior to baking which gives them a rather unique texture compared to rolls.
Sadly most commercially available "bagels" are not actually produced in this way.
American living in Germany, working happily at a German bakery. Brötchen can be absolutely spectacular and I love German bread, but I still miss bagels. I’ve never had a good one here, but the ones you find in the grocery store are basically similar to grocery store bagels in the US(though sometimes they’re not boiled here, which explains why they might seem like Brötchen with a hole).
It’s honestly similar to good Laugengebäck, just without the taste of lye (Lauge), which makes sense. If that’s not appealing to you, sure, but my homemade bagels (which are good but not spectacular, compared to some bagels I’ve had) have always been a hit among the Germans I’ve made them for.
The order of superiority goes like this:
American bagels > German rolls > German bagels > American rolls
The America bagel is definitely at the wrong end. It is better than American rolls, but that's it.