I recently read an article by Adriane Quinlan for Grub Street titled Dark, Dense, and Disappearing How pumpernickel bagels became an endangered species. The headline concerned me. I am a fan of the pumpernickel bagel. While I like most non-everything bagels (everything tend to be too salty for my taste), pumpernickel is probably my favorite bagel (we can place cinnamon raisin to a different category). I previously wrote about how my regular breakfast in my senior year of high school was an extra large Dunkin’ Donuts coffee and an original donut. For lunch, I would often – not always, but often – purchase a sandwich on a pumpernickel bagel, usually grilled chicken, egg, or just cheese, lettuce, and mustard. I have not had many bagels in recent times because I seldom buy pre-made food out these days, but I am still a fan.
The article explained that pumpernickel bagels are going out of style, offering a few theories:
There are plenty of theories about why demand is dying for pumpernickel bagels: The dark color doesn’t photograph well; the flavor is too overpowering for most sandwiches; younger customers just prefer a blander bagel; people have simply forgotten about them. It probably doesn’t help matters that the name, in German, translates to ‘a goblin’s fart.’
Pumpernickel bagels photograph beautifully. See how cheery the one I purchased recently looks after being microwaved with cheedar cheese:
For whatever it is worth, I recall that just about everyone I knew in high school did not like the pumpernickel bagel – perhaps because of the “overpowering” flavor. These same people liked everything bagels though. Now that is overpowering. (Moreover, some of those same people liked rare steak, so their culinary opinions are presumptively invalid.) Pumpernickel has just the right amount of power. I will set aside the fun German language fact because I did not know that, and I doubt anyone whose pumpernickel opinions I have heard knew it either.
The article explains some practical reasons bagel shops may cease carrying pumpernickel in addition to the bagels allegedly not being Instagram-friendly:
It’s a challenge since the pumpernickel we know is made from a mix of rye and white flours. For American bakers who are trained to bake with white flour alone, working with this dough requires a different skill set. And the white flour used to leaven traditional rye also saps its color, which means additives like molasses or cocoa get thrown in to achieve a darker shade. Finally, sharpening the flavor often means adding caraway seeds.
On the generally rare occasions when I purchase a bagel, I usually go for whichever bagel looks the freshest (as I noted, I am not picky regarding bagels), but on this one occasion, I went for the pumpernickel to support the cause and prove that it photographs just fine.
