What to look for in an egg and cheese sandwich

I have a confession: I have recently been loving eating egg and cheese on a bagel sandwiches. I am not usually a creature of habit when it comes to my food orders, however, the one thing I have always been consistent about is my bagel order, which is usually as follows: everything bagel with scallion cream cheese, lox (preferably pastrami lox but that is not always an option so I will settle for regular lox), red onion, capers, and maybe cucumber. However, I was at a coffee shop, saw they had a breakfast sandwich of an egg and cheese on a bagel - and did not have my usual bagel order - so I decided to risk it and order the egg and cheese. Now, when I say I went down a dangerous path, I mean that I went down a dangerous path: eggs and cheese on bagels are addicting. I am almost embarrassed that I liked the sandwich so much, but since my first experience with the genius breakfast pairing I have tried eggs and cheese on bagels from three different locations and have finally cracked down what I believe are the keys to a good sandwich.

The most important thing that one needs to be perfect in order to have a successful egg and

The folded egg technique

cheese on a bagel is making sure that the sandwich is easy to eat while not making it stale or rubbery. You want soft, fluffy eggs and creamy cheese on a slightly chewy, yet fluffy and warm bagel. That’s what you want. But, this sandwich would be a mess to eat. So we need to make a compromise here. One technique I tried that I thought was rather tasty and a decent compromise was that the egg was cooked omelette style, folded rather than scrambled. The cheese was still creamy and perfect and the bagel was solid. Although a bit rubbery, the eggs were easy to eat and, to be honest, in the morning, sometimes it is better to prioritize convenience over taste. One way to avoid the rubbery texture is to fold the cheese into the egg rather than having an egg omelette with only cheese on top. This way, there is some creamy cheese in between the layers of egg to cancel out some of the rubberiness. It is also critical that the bagel is not overstuffed. When overstuffed, eating the sandwich on the go is nearly impossible. The folded egg method is a really good strategy to avoid any overstuffing because it is easier to control the egg when it is placed on the bagel more neatly. A soft bagel with a chewy outside is always a must. But, dare I say, it is a good idea to toast the bagel - even if it’s fresh.

You also want to make sure each item on the sandwich has its own distinct flavor. My go-to

Scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese

bagel for an egg and cheese is an everything bagel (to be honest if you choose any other bagel that is a whole other issue but we won’t get into that). Therefore, the egg can’t be salty because the salt from the everything bagel is sufficient. The cheesy also must be light and creamy, not rich and stretchy. A good American cheese is perfect for this texture. A less appealing option is cheddar cheese; it’s too strong and firm for a good egg and cheese bagel.

So, my big takeaway from my search for the perfect egg and cheese is that the best quality sandwich is not necessarily the one that is cooked to perfection but more so the one that is the best combination of convenience and quality - maybe leaning a little more towards convenience. Also, it it important to mention that I have yet to find the perfect egg and cheese on a bagel so I am hesitant to give out a recommendation on where to go. Out of all the places I've been to, Olive's in Princeton is the best although their bagels are a little too low quality for me. I am still on the hunt and will update this article once I feel as though I have found the perfect place.