Everything Bagel Mixed Nuts

December 17, 2018

There are a bunch of different ways Poppy and Prune recipes come to be. Sometimes I stumble across a cool recipe or historical factoid that I can’t wait to share. Sometimes I get a request. Sometimes I have a brilliant (or not) idea for an original recipe. And sometimes, there’s something I want to make that has no obvious Jewish connection, and I get a little creative trying to make it fit.

That last scenario is how Everything Bagel Mixed Nuts came to be. I’d been wanting to make spiced nuts, and idly started wondering what kind of Jewish slant I could give them.

There are a bunch of directions I could’ve taken, but the first that came to mind? Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel seasoning. This stuff, a mix of sesame and poppy seeds, dried onion and garlic, and coarse salt, is all the rage in pretty much every kosher cooking Facebook group.

And it’s really good. I’ve mostly stuck to pretty basic applications (pro tip: if you’re stuck with a sad plain bagel, a sprinkle of the good stuff on your cream cheese will fix it right up), but people love it on vegetables, pasta, and more.

And anyway, what’s more Jewish than a good everything bagel? That’s what they ate for a special treat in the shtetl, right?

Not quite. Though the bagel has a long and interesting history, about which more another time, it turns out the everything variety doesn’t go back nearly so far. Though its exact origins are murky (and weirdly steeped in controversy), it’s safe to say this bagel variety is a product of 20th-century America.

In 2008, the everything bagel’s origins first made waves, when the New Yorker published a piece about a guy named David Gussin who claims to have invented it in 1980 while working at a Queens bagel shop as a teenager.

It was a simpler time for bagels. There was no cranberry orange, no jalapeno cheddar. There was most certainly no rainbow bagel. No, it was just the basics: plain, sesame, poppy, onion, salt, garlic, and, if you’re getting really fancy, maybe a cinnamon raisin.

One night, while sweeping up the burnt seeds, grains of salt, and flakes of onion and garlic (thankfully, no raisins) that had fallen off the variously topped bagels while they baked throughout the day. So the story goes, one day Gussin suggested to his boss that they put these toasty seeds to use, rather than trashing them as was custom.

The boss agreed, Gussin turned the mix into the newest bagel topping, and the rest is history.

Or maybe not.

Plenty of people have disputed this story, from onetime dotcom guru Seth Godin (who attests to having worked in a bagel factory churning out everythings in the mid-’70s) to restaurateur Joe Bastianich (who claims to have invented the everything himself).

But however the everything came to be, there’s no disputing that it has become a fan favorite over the (not so very many) years. It’s pretty much always my go-to. As soon as I found out about the TJs spice mix, I knew I had to try it, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Turns out it’s a great flavoring for mixed nuts, in addition to its other multitude uses. I was pretty proud of myself for coming up with this idea, though a quick Google reveals I’m far from the first to everything up my mixed nuts. But in any case, they make a delicious snack that’s not at all difficult to prepare.

No TJs near you? No worries. It’s very easy to mix up a batch of homemade everything bagel seasoning.

I used a blend of almonds, cashews, pecans, and hazelnuts, because that’s what I had on hand, but you could use whatever you like.