One, of the best bagel cookbooks you can lay your hands on! Packed full, of tasty bagel recipes and full of pictures to help you tackle the wonder of making homemade bagels. I learned so much from this book and one of the reasons I find it tops.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lovely cookbook to make bagels and a yummy brunch spread.

Recipes were delicious and easy to follow. Great book to expand your breakfast options without paying restaurant prices.

Love bagels, but can’t find good ones in your area? You’ll want to make your own, and the best cookbook out there for that is Bagels, Schmears, and a Nice Piece of Fish: A Whole Brunch of Recipes to Make at Home by Cathy Barrow.
Since Homemade is usually better for everything, and bagels are no exception. This excellent cookbook has a well-written introduction that will entice anyone to make good bagels at home, as well as sections on essential ingredients, equipment, a succinct history of bagels, step-by-step techniques to authentic perfect bagels, bagel styles and adaptations from different places, and plenty of recipes for different flavors of bagels. There are also recipes for quasi bagels such as Turkish Simits, flagels and others.

Also included are recipes for dozens of schmears, fillings, sandwiches and salads; everything you need to make bagels a daily snack or meal. There are also recipes for condiments and add-ons for perfect bagel snacks and meals.

The colored photographs are stunning, and there are photos of almost every recipe. The book is well-organized and well-written. The recipes are written in the traditional manner and are easy-to-follow so that anyone – from beginning cooks to experienced chefs will be able to turn out perfect bagels every time. Barrow does emphasize that practice makes for more beautiful bagels, but that even the ugly ones will taste good.

All told, this is the best bagel cookbook I have ever run across. I used my auto bread machine to mix the dough, but removed it and followed Barrow’s instructions from then on and my bagels were delicious. Highly recommended.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

Cathy Barrow's books always deliver! You get a good mix of stories, education, and easy to understand recipes. Her recipes and descriptions give great information on how to prepare, things to look out for, and most importantly how to troubleshoot!

This book was a delight to read and I'm enjoying working my way through the recipes. Looking forward to a bagels and lox brunch this weekend thanks to Cathy!

This is a fantastic bagel cookbook. You wouldn't think that there's enough about bagels to fill a whole cookbook, but this book demonstrates that this is certainly not the case! A large variety of bagel recipes are included--something for almost everyone. Even better, there are also some recipes for addons to go with the bagels to complete your dining experience. Definitely recommended.

For me, a great cookbook starts with the reading experience. I love to get acquainted with the author, and their passion for a particular style of food. After enjoying the text, the pictures and the stories, I select a few recipes. Depending on my mood and what else is going on in my life, they may be quick and accessible weeknight dinner options or more complicated and challenging projects. Either way, I add them to my weekly shopping list and menu plan and dive in.

“Bagels” was a satisfying success on both fronts. Cathy Barrow’s deep dive into styles, ingredients and history is fascinating. The pictures of *all those bagels* are beautiful. I really appreciated the options for timing bagel prep so that a basket full of bread is ready in the morning.

I’m not a cream cheese gal, so the schmears section left me cold. But a real treasure was the directions for home curing salmon. It was easy, quick and delicious, and devoured instantly by my family.

I’m looking forward to bialys over the upcoming holiday weekend as I continue to bake my way through this terrific book.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love cookbooks and I love bagels. This book was the perfect combination. I will be adding a hard copy to my library. I can't wait until I get the chance to make another batch of cinnamon raisin bagels

Bagels, Schmears, and a Nice Piece of Fish: A Whole Brunch of Recipes to Make at Home by Cathy Barrow is a truly beautiful book. I reviewed an e-copy, but I can tell that it would be a gorgeous addition to your home library (or even coffee table!).

I really enjoyed the family stories the author shared, as well as her personal preferences (e.g., green olives over black olives). I also appreciated that Barrow included reasons why she encouraged one thing or another.

Still, I was disappointed that all the recipes featured here include high-gluten flour. While I agree that you'll get better bagels from flour with a higher gluten amount than all purpose, I don't think high-gluten flour is a requirement. (I haven't tried with Barrow's recipes specifically, but I have made great bagels using bread flour.) In general, I like when recipe writers allow a bit more flexibility in type of flour expected (especially considering the cost of high-gluten flour vs. bread flour).

Recipes include "the New York bagel" as well as the Montreal bagel, classic bagels (e.g., pumpernickel, cinnamon raison), and more novel ones (e.g., gluten-free, blueberry, sun-dried tomato and olive). Barrow goes further and provides recipes for schmears, fishes, salads, pickles and ferments, and sandwiches. There are suggestions for bagel-centric menus as well as an index for easy reference.

I'm most looking forward to trying the marble bagel, the pletzel, the bialy, cherry cheesecake cheese, and the back in the day brie and apple bagel.

I was so excited to be approved for this cookbook on NetGalley and have loved the recipes I've made so far! Barrow covers how to make bagels - which I can't wait to do with the kids - and how to make your own cream cheeses and cured fish! She also has a whole section on salads and I made the chicken and tuna salads and they were both delicious!
One of my favorite aspects of the cookbook, however, is in the opening when Barrow talks about growing up in Ohio and how her grandmother would bring her mother east coast bagels when she came to visit. Growing up in NJ, I have a special love for bagels from my hometown area and I'm so grateful for family that brings NJ bagels when they come to visit us! I loved reading about Barrow's connection to Judaism through the pieces of prose throughout the cookbook and enjoyed that added cultural aspect throughout the story.
Again, I'm so thankful to @NetGalley and @ChronicleBooks for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinion are my own!

BAgels, Schmears, and a Nice Piece of Fish
by Cathy Barrow
Pub Date: March 15, 2022
Chronicle
A playful-yet-comprehensive cookbook that lets anyone create bagels, schmears, and other deli favorites at home.

Bagel lovers rejoice! This delightful cookbook makes it easy to bake fresh bagels in your own kitchen with just five base ingredients and simple techniques. With advice on mixing the dough, shaping the bagels, proofing, boiling, baking, slicing, and storing, you will be a master bagel-maker in no time.
Will I really and truly make my own bagels? Possibly! In my corner of the world there are no Jewish Bakeries so by reading this book I feel like I could indeed make my own.
4 stars

I’ve made bagels a few times and always used cornmeal. I recently learned I have a corn allergy and for the life of me I could not find an otherwise standard recipe with another dusting option. I love that this book told me how without any substitution, just omit the cornmeal and boil on the paper! Absolute mind blown.

I really enjoyed the history incorporated throughout the book and the small tips and tricks sprinkled in everywhere.

I know this will quickly become my go-to book for bagels and I will almost certainly be buying a physical copy. The photos are gorgeous.

This cookbook is absolutely a delight and a must-have for a Jewish home. I received a free e-arc of the book through Netgalley, but plan to purchase my own physical copy, so that this cookbook can double as a coffee table book additionally. While many of the recipe ideas in this book are familiar to me, the preparations are mostly new to me and I've found myself mentally taking notes on many of the ideas in the book. I am so excited to make delicious bagels as I, like many others, live in a part of the country where it's impossible to get a good bagel.

I really enjoyed the storries from the past and how she compiled all these recipes from her past. I liked the different types of bagels. Going to try making them one day

This book is my jam! Even though I live a stone's throw from NYC and can get great bagels anytime I want, I cannot wait to give bagels a go at home. The "Here's How I Time it Out" inset re: scheduling your rise and bake times is GENIUS and man do I wish any recipe requiring a long rise included this information. Super helpful! Kudos to both the food stylist/photographer and the graphic/visual designer. The food images are beautiful, and the layouts, graphics, lists/tables of contents are all gorgeous and so perfectly capture the NYC Jewish Deli vibe. The recipes appear well written, include tons of helpful tips and troubleshooting ideas. The schmear ideas sound AMAZING, and this book may very well convince me to try curing my own lox. And now I'm very hungry.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC, in exchange for my honest review.

Bagels and schmears? I was sold at the title. This book is filled with so many fantastic recipes and had me making my own bagels and schmear at home.

4 delicious, interesting, refreshing stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for providing a digital ARC for review!

This was an interesting take on bagels and schmears. Yes I've had bagels before, and one of my favorite rare brunch items is "bagel and lox" - so of course after looking at that scrumptious cover I had to see what this cookbook was all about.

This cookbook is full of delicious bagel and schmear recipes - so many different types of bagels as well as homemade cream cheese... delicious! I've never dabbled in baking my own bagels, but I think I'll have to change that ASAP! These cream cheese recipes are lovely as well - sweet and savory, something for everyone to enjoy. I enjoyed reading on Cathy Barrow and her family's background. There is so much love in these recipes!

I recommend to any cooking/baking enthusiast or simply the bagel lover in your life~

The subtitle for this book is “a whole brunch of recipes to make at home”, which is a perfect summary of this book! It’s funny, it’s got a bunch of incredible recipes, it’s happily Jewish, it’s got great photography. We didn’t get to make any recipes from this book before this review was due, but my roommate has promised to make me bagels for my birthday in April, so watch this space (well, the blog. Keep watching the whole of the blog). Also useful to note that not only are there bagels, there are recipes for spreads AND schmears, and recipes for other spreads for your bagels like whitefish and chicken salad. Five stars!

I really enjoyed reading the author’s backstory, about her family and Jewish heritage (yay for our Jewish tribe!) before she got into the bagel making and other recipes.

Some of my favorites that I’d like to come back to are fresh lox, lox cream cheese, and cannoli cheese! I don’t know if I have the guts to try making bagels, but I’d definitely use these recipes if I ever tried!

I also really loved the layout and the photographs used. They made me hungry and crave a bagel with a generous pile of lox!

This cookbook is perfect for people who want to learn how to make their own bagels and schmears. It has interesting history, delicious recipes, and beautiful photos.