Foodies
Sourdough
Success by Julia Bruce
I
n the spring of 2020, Jennifer Balin was running her wildly successful restaurant Sugar and Olives, when COVID-19 shut everything down. With time on her hands, she—like many other people—experimented with sourdough. She started baking as many as three loaves a day, mailing her bread to friends and family around the country. After mastering bread, Balin set her sights on making bagels. “I always love a challenge,” she said. Through trial and error, Balin perfected her creation. News of her delicious sourdough bagels spread through social media and by word of mouth. “Once orders started multiplying, I decided to go all in on the bagels,” she said. This started the birth of Badass Bagels. The process of making the bagels is an intensive labor of love. First, the starter needs to be fed and active. The starter is then mixed with flour and water to form a levain, which acts as a natural leavening agent—a substance that causes expansion of dough by the release of gases, producing baked products with porous structure. After time to rise, the dough is then shaped, boiled, topped, and baked. “The whole process takes about four days and is very precise,” Balin said. She is grateful for a cast of loyal workers by her side in the kitchen. The resulting bagels have a light crunch on the outside but are airy and chewy, with a slight tang on the inside. Currently, there are nine varieties including golden sesame, black sesame, poppy, smoked sea salt, everything, Gabriela Cenatiempo showcases the shaped dough that will rest before baking. The final product: bagels that look as good as they taste.
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pumpernickel, cinnamon raisin, and plain. Gluten-free bagels made from white and brown rice flour are also available. Uniquely flavored cream cheeses, such as pimento scallion or smoky black garlic, are made in-house. Balin added other items to the menu including whitefish salad, her recipe enhanced by radishes, celery, three-color carrots, and parsley stems. She also cures her own gravlax. “I don’t want to do a thousand things halfway, but a few things really well using the best ingredients I can source,” she said. Last summer, Balin paired with Millstone Farms in Wilton, using some of farm’s vegetables in her cream cheeses and offering her bagels to their Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members, many of whom are now regular customers. She also sells at the Westport Farmer’s Market and has had successful pick-up collaborations in Larchmont and Greenwich. “One of the things I’m most proud of is the relationship I have with my customers,” said Balin. Badass Bagels makes upwards of 2,000 bagels each week, which are pre-ordered by texting the Bagel Hotline. Balin is growing her business with the same attention to detail that she grows her sourdough starter “I’m doing food with meaning and purpose,” she says. “There’s so much depth to every transaction. Each bagel is made with intention, because it has a home to go to.” Pick up times are at Sugar and Olive, 21 Lois St, Norwalk. To order bagels, text the bagel hotline at 203-816-0028.
