One simply cannot find a decent bagel anywhere else in the world. I do believe it has to do with the quality and content of our water.
*Points down the street* I live right in the middle of a Jewish neighbourhood. While I haven't tasted your bagels over there, my bagels right here are pretty darn tasty.
I have never been to Australia (though it is on my list), so I cannot speak about that which I have never experienced.
So I posit that I have never been offered a bagel in Europe, nor have I ever run across one in Canada or Mexico. Those I have encountered here in the United States, outside of the NY-Metro Area are, and excuse my language, piss poor and badly made.
Bagels MUST be boiled before baking!!! Anyone who insists otherwise is ill-informed and should be strung up.
As testimony to this, a friend who lives in Los Angeles insists that I cannot step foot over her threshold for a visit unless I am carrying no less than one dozen New York bagels. I have another acquaintance in Florida who asks that I post bagels to him on a regular basis, at least once a month...
