The CIA's east-coast and west-coast bureaux had long-running rivalries over Champagne

Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/05/16/bubbly-wars.html

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Have a little extra time on their hands I’d say.

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There can be no E-W rivalry when it comes to bagels of any sort. Let’s just be honest.

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I can only assume that you are referring to NY bagels.

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Class of their own

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Champagne is not made in California. Champagne is made in France.

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Historian here. This is a great document, but it’s missing some valuable context which I’ll provide here with some other documents, intercalated in the appropriate place chronologically:

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East, West, North, South. Why can’t we all just get along?

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I’m NYC raised and educated (and I go back there at least once a year) , and have been in the LA area my entire work-life. I’ve had East coast (NYC) and West coast (LA) bagels, and where NYC bagels are fairly consistent in quality (boiling them is the key), LA quality very much depends on who you buy from.

Some specialty bagel stores in LA actually bake (!!) their bagels :confounded: , while others (based on my own expert mouth-feel/taste determination :slight_smile: ) make some pretty good bagels. I suspect bad bagel experiences in LA are due to the former, with that forever informing the unlucky patrons.

(Let’s not get into NYC vs. CA delis; that’s a different forum altogether!)

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I don’t care how great the quality of the champagne, I’m never drinking it out of a shoe, YUCK

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Except most pedants (including myself) who like to correct people on that, do so knowing full well the person calling domestic sparkling wine champagne is in fact referring to it being made in the so-called traditional method, AKA the champagne method. Now calling tank fermented sparkling wine champagne, that really is heresy.

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West Coast swill…so, Boone’s Farm?

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Scandalous

The US didn’t recognize that in 1952. All sparkling wine was “champagne”. And then there’s this:
https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/loophole-california-champagne-legal/
The 1952 quality probably was swill, but better than New York champagne.

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Not only that, but they had time to publish a cookbook.

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Umm, all bagels are baked, the question is whether and how they are boiled beforehand. And there’s some damn fine bagels in Hoboken and crappy ones in Jersey City. Personally, I think it’s all technique not location. Same with pizza. The ignorant of how to make it feeding the ignorant of how it should taste. I gotta say the best za around here is made by old school italians, but 95% is made by Egyptians or Latinos. How to identify the superior pizza purveyor? Look for the cop cars outside. They know.

To be even pickier, champagne is made in Champagne.

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Champagne, bagels and other sundry items aside, there is at least no E-W gap regarding burritos – thanks to the Alameda-Weehawken burrito tunnel.

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Thanks! I should have been clearer re the baked/boil. Many bagel places only bake them (no pre-boil)!!

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Wow, is THAT page a labor of love! And I thought the one kitchen for all the Indian restaurants on 6th street was ambitious.

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