As a Maryland native, I’ve long been puzzled by the range of texture that was allowed to fall under the ‘bagel’ umbrella. The pretzel connection lends some insight to this, though I still don’t grasp why so many people (I’m thinking of Einstein Brothers and Chesapeake Bagel Bakery here) produce seriously mediocre bagels on such a large scale. Most of the world’s great bagels are pretty cheap, so it can’t be that hard to do a good job, can it?