A raisin bagel with scallion cream cheese? Staff Writer, Maren Frey, shares her recipe for the best bagel on campus, a combo that some may find controversial, but that is truly fire.

I’ve always loved to come up with innovative food combos. Some may call them “weird,” or “gross,” but I call them delicious. Some of my favorites (and most famous) range from the basic mac and cheese with ketchup to the more out-there hummus mixed with yogurt combo. Going to college did not deter me from continuing my creations. Though I lacked access to a full kitchen compared to my home, I had 7 dining halls at my disposal for creation. Thus, my ability to perfect my bagel recipe at John Jay was born this October after an 8:40 am Spanish class. 

One morning, I was feeling extremely inventive, craving a combo of both sweet and salty as well as a bagel. So, as I perused the bagel selection, selected a raisin bagel, and placed it in the toaster. That day, the regular cream cheese was out, and one thing about me is that I am NOT someone who likes butter. Thus, I had to resort to scallion cream cheese. 

To be honest, I was skeptical about the combo of raisin bagel with scallion cream cheese at first, but as I took my first bite in the front room of John Jay, (one of my favorite places on campus) sitting with my friend, Charlie, I knew I had hit a new level of food innovation. It’s the union of chewy raisins paired with the creamy scallion goodness that is one of the reasons this bagel is so fire. Combined with the immaculate scrambled eggs from the hotline, some broccoli from the salad bar, and a side of John Jay’s strawberry yogurt, this bagel is the best breakfast not only on campus but arguably in all of New York City. 

I know that we have access to quite a few bagel places around campus, from Wu and Nuss to Absolute, but another plus of this bagel is that it comes with a meal swipe. The scallion cream cheese raisin bagel cures all. Sometimes, I eat it at Sunday brunch after a long weekend or on a Wednesday morning before my busiest day for fuel. I know it sounds like a weird combo, but don’t knock it till you try it. Because when you do, you’ll be thanking me. I promise. 

I love this bagel via Author