L.A. Man Was Denied When He Tried to Order a ‘Scooped’ Bagel in New York City — Here's What That Means
Ordering a bagel has never been so controversial until a Los Angeles TikTok user posted a video saying he was denied a "scooped" bagel in New York City
There are an infinite number of ways to enjoy a bagel — toasted, untoasted, open-faced, as a sandwich, with eggs — the list goes on and on. But one preference is seemingly the most controversial of all.
On Thursday, TikTok user Taylor Offer posted a video sharing his polarizing bagel order that got turned down at a New York City bagel shop.
“There’s nothing more stressful than ordering a bagel in New York City,” the Los Angeles native claimed in his TikTok.
He then explained that in his hometown, he’d be able to “walk in and say, ‘Hey, can I get a scooped, gluten free bagel?” He said that the person working would usually be very accommodating of the request, and would sometimes list other gluten free options available for the day.
However, Offer, a clothing brand founder, quickly discovered that those kinds of requests aren't met so amicably on the east coast. Offer said he asked for the same order in New York, and “the guy just looks at me and goes, ‘I’m not scooping your f---ing bagel bro.’”
People in the comments of Offer’s TikTok were quick to agree with the shop worker’s decision.
“I’m team bagel shop. Scooped bagel is a crime,” one user wrote. Another said, “So proud of the deli guy for setting healthy boundaries.”
Many people admitted to not knowing what the Angeleno was even talking about in the first place, writing, “Just googled what a scooped bagel was. The deli guy was correct.”
So what exactly is a scooped bagel, and why do people make this kind of request?
Scooping or tunneling a bagel is the practice of using a spoon to dig out a circle of the bready interior between the hole and the crust of both halves of the bagel.
Some people choose to scoop their bagels for the obvious health-conscious reason: There’s less bagel, so there’s less carbs and therefore less calories.
Others make the argument that removing the bready interior opens up the bagel to a more pleasing cream cheese to bagel ratio and also allows the bagel to be built into a sandwich better. Rather than a thin spread of schmear across a flat surface, the scooped bagel provides a canal to catch extra cream cheese. Additionally, the tunneled sides make the ratio of spread to bagel more consistent throughout the eating experience.
Likewise, when making a bagel sandwich, the scooped interior is able to cradle the ingredients inside the bagel, preventing them from sliding out when eating, allowing for a more manageable bread to filling ratio.
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Similarly, some chefs that use baguettes to make sandwiches also opt to scoop out the interior to make more room for topping and improve the bread to filling ratio.
However, while scooping may be chef-approved, the process can eat up time in a fast-paced New York bagel shop, a reality Offer recognizes.
"They just weren’t really having it. I just wanted a gluten-free scoop bagel and I get it, they’re busy," he told Today.
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