- Tonight on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the Stories from Queens to upstate New York, Sean Hennessy joins Johnny Spezzano in the kitchen to make some traditional wood-fired bagels with a north country twist.

And Laura Tiberiu is back.

Her review of the book, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, might just convince you it's your next must read, your stories, your region coming up right now on WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories, - WPBS Weekly inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

A Carthage Walk-in clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

Today, - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide Community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone, and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories, I'm Michael Riecke.

What happens when you mix the expertise involved in making the perfect New York City bagel with a north country twist?

We find out in Johnny Spezzano Kitchen, where bagels meet Johnny's Wood Fire Grill with some help from special guest Sean Hennessy.

Hey, come on.

- Hey, welcome to another episode of Johnny on Fire.

I'm Johnny Spezzano and my guest in my kitchen.

Sean Hennessy.

- Johnny, thanks for having me here today.

What a treat this is my friend.

You - Wait, you know what?

Stay right there.

- Okay.

- You need this.

Oh, - I love it, - Buddy.

All right.

Put this on.

- It's official.

Put this on.

It's official.

So - Here's why I asked Sean to come today.

We're gonna be making bagels.

This guy makes bagels in his kitchen.

- I do.

I do.

Yeah.

- And every once in a while, he'll bring some to me at the radio station to try out.

He's always trying recipes - Out, friends and family, you - Know.

Yeah.

And so we're gonna, we're gonna make bagels right here in this wood-fired oven.

So it should be good.

Cool.

Let's do it.

So first of all, you told me you grew up in - Queens.

Yeah.

So I grew up in Flushing, Queens.

- Okay.

- Moved up to the area to go to SUNY Canton.

We're at my met, met my wife and four kids later, three 30 years and four kids later.

- Yeah.

- We're still here.

And we love it here.

It's just a great place to raise family.

So yeah.

- You're a local like the rest of us now - At this point.

- Yes.

But you obviously lived in a place where bagels were everywhere.

- Almost every corner had a great bagel shop.

And those are becoming fewer and fewer queens still has great bagels, but so does the north country.

Right.

So, well, thanks to you, we're gonna show folks today how to make 'em - All right.

So I said we don't have time to mix up all the dough and - Let it wax.

Yeah.

'cause you need an industrial mixer for that.

- But you mix this up.

Yeah.

Basic ingredients of any dough, right?

- No, it's just flour, salt, water, yeast.

- Okay.

- Else you need, yeah.

- All right.

So we're gonna make these bagels, then we're gonna boil 'em.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We're - We do old school.

We're going old school folks.

Yeah.

None of this steaming stuff.

We're gonna, we're gonna - Boil.

All right.

Show me how, show me what we gotta do.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So what you do is you take your, your dough.

Right.

And you know, this is how they used to do it back in the old days.

Now they have machines that do this.

- Okay.

- So, and I use my hands for these.

So we'll let you, what you do is, yeah.

So you just cut a, cut a piece off.

Right.

Just a long piece, you know, it's probably too long.

Right.

Okay.

And then you just cut another piece like this.

Right.

Okay.

And then you just wrap it around your hand, pinch it off, basically.

That's it.

That's it.

Yeah.

It's real simple.

Just roll it.

Right.

Cut a piece off.

Roll it.

Okay.

And then it's gonna proof.

Now can this turn into - One?

Is that enough?

- A enough?

- It's - A little short.

Little short.

So we'll do - This one.

Yeah.

Wrap around your hand.

So just wrap around my hand?

Yeah.

Like this?

- Yeah, you can do it any way you want.

There you go, buddy.

- Like that.

- Nice.

Cut it here.

Boom.

Yeah, pinch it - Off.

That's a bagel.

- That's a bagel, - Right?

Get outta here.

Simple.

I thought it was harder than that.

Simple.

All right, well, so we'll make a few more now as far as bagels go.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, anything about the history of bagels?

I'm just gonna ask you this right now.

It's a good question.

I'm kind of on the spot.

So, so it's, it's a, it's a Jewish tradition, right?

Based out of the five boroughs in the city, not just in Queens, but, you know, it branched out and there's folks from all ethnicities making bagels in the - City.

Now, now, of course.

Yeah.

- It's not just a Jewish thing or, or Queens thing.

But I tell you what, it's getting harder to, harder to find a hand-rolled bagel.

As I mentioned before, a lot of folks are doing it by machine.

It's faster.

You don't need the, the, the folks to do it.

And, but we do 'em old school, you know.

So anyway, this will sit proof, and then what's gonna happen is we're gonna put 'em in the fridge to what we call it retarding in the, in the, in the industry.

And they'll cool off over a day or so, and then they get dropped Right into the, into the water and get boiled.

- Yeah.

All right.

So we're gonna make a couple more these.

I love it, man.

And then we're gonna let 'em sit.

Yeah.

Then we're gonna boil 'em.

Yeah.

And then we're gonna bake 'em.

Yeah, we're - Gonna go for it.

- Now what about topping?

What about when I say toppings?

You know, you hear about the everything bagel?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

The garlic bagel.

So I'm an old school guy when it comes to toppings, right?

So you have the poppy, the sesame, the everything.

You know, some folks like to do the rainbow.

Some people like to do cinnamon raisin.

Listen, I'm, I'm all about the topping bagels.

I like it.

Old school, when I used to walk into my, my bagel shop, the Jewish bagel shop back in, in Q, garden Hills, you know, we had just a handful of choices.

There weren't dozens of choices to pick from.

So we'll do an onion.

That's a nice one, right?

Is fun.

Look at that.

Look at this guy.

This is so much fun.

Look at this guy.

He's a pro.

You're coming down the shop.

I'm - Working out Now.

- You're gonna get to get down.

Come down to the shop.

So, yeah.

So I like to do old school, you know?

I like your, I like the motion.

Well, I thought - That's what you showed me.

You, - You're working, dude.

You're doing so fantastic.

Hand around.

And how's that one?

My goodness, dude, that's fantastic.

- All right, we're getting better - Like it.

- Okay, so we're gonna let these rest.

Yep.

And then we'll be, we'll be boiling 'em.

We're gonna boil 'em next, then we're - Gonna bake 'em.

Yeah, let's do that.

- Whoa, Sean.

Oh, that is, isn't that something?

What an experience.

They've actually cooked a little - Bit.

Yeah.

They cook a little bit on the outside.

What that does is that, that kicks, cooks off the yeast on the outside.

- Okay.

- Right.

And gives it that, that like robust crust.

Right.

Okay.

So you're gonna be our everything guy.

- Okay.

- I'm gonna be our sesame guy.

All right.

And then we can throw some planes in there too.

- Everything bagel sesame, big - Sesame, everything.

Right?

So what we're gonna do is gonna take it, drop it in.

- Yep.

- And put it like - That.

Okay.

Upside down.

What are these wood things?

- Upside down.

So these are our wood plates.

Oh, - Did I do too much?

- No, you're good, buddy.

No, it's perfect.

Yeah, just like that.

Here, let's turn that one so it gets a nice surface area.

- Oh my gosh.

What is, what is it?

Love that buddy is doing this.

Everything.

It's all - You are.

So dude, you're like a pro.

You you, you're molding 'em, right?

You're dropping 'em, right?

Well, - Next time you're doing this around the house over, - You're coming by.

I love it, man.

I got, I got a teammate now.

This is great.

So yeah, what we're gonna do is we're gonna drop these onto the plates.

And you notice that they're going topping side down.

- Yeah.

Why is that?

- So there's nothing worse than a flat bottom bagel.

Oh.

Kinda like the queen song, right?

Flat bottom.

Just a little, just a little different.

Right?

So this is gonna go here, and then this is, oh, we didn't do any planes.

That's okay.

That's okay.

People like the toppings.

Heck.

Now John, here's what we're gonna do.

All right, we're going in the oven, buddy.

Okay.

You ready to rock already?

But wait a minute.

They're gonna stay right on here.

On the wood plates?

Yeah, yeah, on the wood plates.

So they're going in like this, boom.

Like that, right?

Okay, we're gonna go like this and we're gonna go gu room.

I think we can fit 'em all in there.

Let's see.

Let's see.

Oh, that's a beautiful flame you got there, John?

- All right.

- Here's a beautiful flame.

Looks great.

- All right, Sean, let's see how these bagels are doing in here.

Let's see how it wins.

- This is exciting.

This is like a new thing here, John, with the wood oven.

This is fantastic.

Ready?

Oh my God.

Oh, you got some beauties in there, buddy.

Woo.

All right, you got some beauties in there.

Oh, look at this.

Look at this.

Look at this.

Look at the golden U on that sucker.

This is beautiful.

- Bring a few more out.

- Yeah, yeah, please.

Now I like the char.

I am a char guy.

I love - That you're the char.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- Well, 'cause these are old fashioned - Baby.

Oh, baby, - Those are extra charred.

- Extra chars.

Yep.

- We got one more here.

There you - Go.

I love it.

Very snazzy.

Very snazzy.

These are beautiful, John.

Beautiful.

Okay, - So you brought some stuff So we can make some bagel sandwiches.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Some local ingredients too, John.

- Yeah.

Okay, so want us, show me what you, - Yeah, so what we've got is we've got some cheese.

This is from Great Lakes cheese down in Adams, New York.

Right.

This is a cheese curd.

It comes with the squeak, right?

Gotta check the squeak people.

It's - Not north country.

If it's not cheese - Curd, if, if it's not squeaking and it is not, not fresh.

So krogan bologna.

You have to have Rogan bologna in the north - Country.

Say hi, Blaine over - At the meat market.

Yes.

So tasty.

So tasty.

I got this at the general store from Tiny's old place and the general store.

- This is and Jen.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Boar head.

We'll - Drop some names.

- Boris head, golden Turkey.

It's the best Turkey.

It's the only one you'll get into five boroughs, right?

Yeah.

This is very special microgreens from Ag Botics in Sacketts Harbor, New York.

Yeah.

John G's team are doing amazing job.

You can find this at Hannaford.

Have you - Ever had the bee greens?

I mean, I'm sorry, radish greens.

- No, you're right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The - Radishes is attached to them.

So good.

- So good, right?

It's fantastic.

This is my very own vinegar vinegarette that I made the vinegar and yeah, that's what we got here.

- Fantastic.

So listen, and I microwaved an egg, threw a yum piece of cheese on it just so I can make a, you know, - Egg and cheese.

- A breakfast bagel.

- Gotta have an egg and cheese, - Right?

All right, so you said you like 'em with a little bit of char, so I'm gonna cut this bad boy up for you.

- Yeah, that's awesome.

Right here.

Thank you buddy.

Look at the steam coming off that it's, that's a thing of beauty, buddy.

It's hot thing of beauty.

So I want, how's that look?

That is a lovely, lovely.

Is that good?

Lovely bagel.

Okay.

Lovely bagel.

- Now you said you wanted to educate - Us.

Yeah, I wanna educate people for, I didn't mention too, this is a craft Philly cream cheese, right?

Right.

Made right in Lowville, New York, any cream cheese that you get in the northern part of the country is made right in Lowville New York.

Isn't that amazing?

Right?

All of it.

Philly cream cheese, fantastic.

Philly cream cheese.

Don't get any other brand.

This is the best you can get.

Right?

So I wanna show something in my house.

We eat cream cheese all the time.

- Okay.

- And for some reason, people wanna poke knives into this.

They want to cut this.

- Yeah, I'm one of - Those, right?

Yeah, no, you - One of those guys.

- Alright, so we're gonna educate folks on how to actually open a cream cheese packet.

You would think this would be pretty simple.

Wow.

Just fold this out, right?

It comes with tabs.

All you gotta do is take it and pull it apart.

- And that's it.

- That's it.

Simple, right?

Amazing.

And then when it goes back into the fridge, you just cover it up like this, right?

Okay.

And then you can sort of slice, no cutting.

No, yeah, just, and then you gotta, all right, - I wanna slice, I'm, I'm gonna do the egg bagel.

I know.

Doing the, - Yeah, I'm doing cream cheese.

Yeah, I'm doing cream cheese.

- I'm gonna do a slice of cream cheese.

Awesome buddy.

Right here on this.

- And I'm doing myself a smear.

- Right?

Okay.

- So you do a smear.

So back in the city, when you go into a bagel shop, okay, you ask for a smear, they're basically giving you a big thick section.

And then they smear it, they smear it.

You gotta smear.

It's gotta be oozing out the sides when you go back to the construction site, right?

- I can't believe we just cooked this in the oven.

This looks so - Good, dude.

This is the bomb.

I'm telling you.

It's wonderful.

I can't use, can't use that catchphrase, - By the way.

Philadelphia cream cheese.

We set the record recently in Lowville, New York for the biggest cheesecake.

Apparently Russia had beat the record.

No.

No longer Johnny and Lowville - Came no longer.

Johnny came through last year.

That's right, buddy.

That's right.

- Okay.

- So, all right.

- So what are you gonna putting on yours?

I'm gonna throw this - Egg.

I'm literally going old school.

I'm going just original cream cheese.

That's it.

I put maybe a little salt on there.

Just a, I'm doing, you - Know, an egg.

I got an egg.

That's nice.

- That's - A little cheese - And cream cheese.

I like that.

Very nice.

And I mean, I could put a little croghan bologna.

I'm thinking it's not gonna hurt anybody, right?

If we put a little croghan bologna in there, I mean, no, I mean, I think that's a - Good Look at the sesame one.

This one came out so nice.

Gosh, - Dude, this is, we got that crunch.

This oven you have is fantastic.

It's got the right consistency.

It's, it's a humid, it's a beautiful environment.

- I'll rent it to you if you wanna start cooking your - Home meat.

Let's, let's do that, man.

I like - That.

All right.

Are we gonna take a taste?

- Yeah, let's go, man.

Okay, let's dig in.

- Sean Hennessy here with us real quick.

We were, we were, we didn't use any of this.

What is this?

- So this is my very own vinegar, right?

Okay.

So people at home, if they wanna make their own vinegar, is very, very easy.

Right?

Go to Aldi, Sam's Club, Hannaford, wherever you price shop or wherever you do your shopping.

And you buy a little packet of dried fruit, right?

Okay.

Put that in the bottom of a gallon container.

It doesn't have to be glass, it can be plastic.

- I'm making a Turkey one - Now.

No, there you go, man.

And then for every cup of water you put into that container, put one tablespoon of organic sugar.

Right?

You could find that at all these, they, it's cheap.

And just let it sit in a warm place for a few days.

It'll start to ferment every day.

You stir a little bit, give it a little oxygen.

And then by left fourth or fifth day, it'll, you'll start to smell alcohol from it.

Right?

So strain out all the ingredients from from it.

Just keep the liquid, let that sit for another 30 days.

You got vinegar.

- That's vinegar.

- Yeah.

- Usually I just don't finish the wine.

It turns into vinegar.

Usually.

That's the way to do it, man.

Nothing.

Nothing too special.

Look at that.

Hmm.

Okay, so I'm, so I got two bagels going.

Did you make a mean sandwich?

I got the breakfast one going and I'm gonna do this one with your vinegar for the lunch one.

Oh, I love it.

- Okay.

Little extra virgin, olive oil.

Little, little, little vinegar.

- All right.

- And away you go, buddy.

There we go.

Away you go.

You can't go wrong with this right here, - John.

Homemade bagels.

We made 'em right here in the oven.

Thank you, Sean Hennessy.

- John, thank you so much.

This is a lot of fun, buddy.

I appreciate it.

- And let's, let's take a taste.

I don't know, should I cut it or not?

Okay, you first?

- No, I'm going - Right in, buddy.

You first.

I'm going in.

Okay.

You got the croghan Bologna one?

Mm hmm.

You know what's good when you're wearing it on your face?

Here you go buddy.

Here you go.

All right, I'll go for the egg one.

Here we go.

Ooh, - Please start the smoke of the oven.

You smell it.

That's go.

That's the best breakfast bagel I've ever had, buddy.

Lemme tell you something, that 10 bucks, 15 bucks from the city all day long.

- That's pretty.

I got some on my face.

What?

Over here?

No, not so much.

Here and here.

Just right in here.

- Okay.

- Well we really, really - Appreciate you tuning in.

This is been a great show.

Another awesome episode of Johnny on Fire.

We're gonna sit here and be two guys eating bagel sandwiches.

Yeah, so thank you so much.

Again, you can all check out all of the wpbstv.org episodes.

That's where you're gonna find all the episodes of Johnny on Fire.

And you can listen to my dinner at Johnny's podcast.

We will see you next time.

Alright, I'm gonna bite into the homemade Sesame Bagel is a lovely sandwich.

Turkey, - Where is it?

Turkey vinegar from the General Store in Watertown, New York.

Huh?

I isn't that amazing?

So good.

Thank you so much for doing.

Thanks for having me today, John.

It's really special.

I can't believe how easy this is.

Wow.

- So good.

- If you're looking for more great fire grilled recipes from Johnny, just visit wpbstv.org and scroll through our library.

Also, if you'd like to be a guest on the segment, all you need to do is send us an email at WPBS weekly@wpbstv.org.

Make sure you include your name and of course, your fire grilled recipe idea.

And what's a bagel without cream cheese?

Right.

Check out the Cream Cheese festival celebrating all things cream cheese.

It's happening on Saturday, September 20th in downtown Lowville New York.

Visit cream cheese festival.com for more information.

And finally tonight, a chance to discover your next read.

Avid reader, Laura Tiberiu shares her views on the book, homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

This extraordinary novel illuminates, slavery's, troubled legacy, both for those who were taken and those who stayed, and shows how the memory of captivity has affected the soul of our nation.

Here's Laura with more.

- Hello and welcome back.

I am thrilled to have you here because I'm so glad to talk about the book that I have to recommend today.

Now, this book is truly so educational and interesting and moving.

So what more could you want from something?

You'll learn something new and have a really good time reading it.

And that book is Homegoing by Yaa gyasi.

And as you can see, this is also a Heather's pick.

So this book was incredibly popular all throughout Canada when it came out.

And I tried, decided to pick it up one day, and then I didn't read it for about six years.

I just owned it and I never read it.

So many other books came up on my list and I got carried away with life as everyone does.

And I got busy.

But then finally I went to a cottage with my parents and I decided to bring this book along.

And then my life changed, is how I like to say it, because I had my eyes completely open.

Now this book is a beautiful multi-generational story, and it follows Two half Sisters starting years and years and decades ago set in Ghana.

And then we follow the line.

Every chapter is a new descendant of those half sisters and one side of the family.

One half sister stays in Ghana and so does their whole life and their whole lineage while the other goes to America.

Not by choice, of course, they're bought as slaves and they go to America.

And then throughout history and time, because we end up at present day, we find out what that journey was like.

And through each chapter we're following a different generation from that same family line.

And oh my goodness, this was at sometimes really hard to read because it was incredibly honest and raw about what the living conditions, conditions for them were in Ghana and in America during the time of slavery.

Before it was abolished, while it was trying to be abolished, but also in Ghana.

I don't know about you, but for me, my education didn't really cover what it was like, and I wasn't really exposed to that side of history on that side of the world.

And although this is a fiction book, I did read a lot about it after I read it because it stuck with me so much.

And it's all based on not necessarily true events, but true fact.

So while the characters are fictional, what they go through in the book is absolutely heartbreaking, but based on fact and reality.

And for example, some parts were, were quite hard to get through, but so important to read and educate yourself.

They're stuck in these dungeons, like hundreds of women slaves, and there's nowhere to get food or go to the washroom and they're like toppling on top of each other.

And that was their reality.

And in the light of that, they're trying to make friends and make jokes because they have to adapt, they have to adapt to change, they have nothing else they can do.

And on top of that dungeon, there's a kingdom and a palace and a white man decides to have one of these women, the other half sister as one of his many wives.

And it's that duality of that luck how one sister got chosen and the other didn't that we follow years and of trauma and what they go through.

And I, I'm so glad I read it, it completely opened my eyes and it also really catapulted me into so much other research and reading other books.

One example is Stamped Anti-Racism in You.

That was such a fantastic book.

I highly recommend, and that is a nonfiction book.

But if you're looking for an introduction to a deeper topic that you wanna get educated on, but you still want a story, you want the characters, you want some romance, you want some conflict resolution and plot, I highly recommend because like I said, this is still fiction.

And every single chapter follows, like I said, a different generation.

So we get a new character and it's almost like each chapter is its own mini short story.

So if sometimes it's too hard to stomach and you feel really uncomfortable, because although this happened, some people aren't used to dealing with the hard truths like myself, you can break it up and read a chapter or two at a time.

But overall, just the message of these beautiful characters showing resilience, I mean, it was moving and it made you feel like there's so much strength in, in human connection and finding light in a terrible situation and having empathy for history and, and what happened, I, I implore anyone to read it.

And on top of, of course the contents of the book being super moving and really important, the writing style of the author is excellent.

I adored it.

I I really fell in love with the writing and I have two quotes that I would love, love, love to share that I think will resonate.

So the first is weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you.

Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.

And of course it would come out of a book when we're talking about slavery and back in ganan and when it all started.

But that sentence alone can apply to so much in life.

And I, I remember reading it and highlighting and thinking this is important.

I'm gonna come back to this.

And I have, and my next quote, which I adore and again just applies so much to our knowledge and our education system, is this is the problem of history.

We cannot know that which we are not there to see and hear and experience for ourselves.

We must rely upon the words of others.

Those who were there in the olden days, they told stories to the children so that the children would know so that the children could tell stories to theirs and so on and so on.

But now we come upon the problem and conflicting stories.

So whose story do we believe then?

And I think that's such a great way to encapsulate, I mean, I don't know about you, but even when I was in elementary school, I remember having two textbooks in history class and they would sometimes contradict years or dates or who said what or did what.

And this book just really beautifully deals with that topic and also makes it an incredible story.

And I will leave you there once again, Homegoing highly recommend and I hope you get something out of it and spark a new interest in this genre - That does it for this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the stories empowering young minds to dream big and build brighter futures while having fun At the Kingston Stem and Robotics Center and the annual Akwesasne International Powwow celebrates indigenous culture, also documenting the historic area Canal through photography.

Our multi-part series continues as we celebrate the Canal's 200th anniversary.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we'd love to learn more.

All you need to do is drop us an email at wpbs weekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for now.

Have a great night everyone.

We'll see you next time.

Until then, take care.

- WPBS Weekly.

Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

The Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you, located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing Close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country where protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong, at claxtonhepburn.org.

Today, - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- That's the best breakfast bagel I've ever had, buddy.

Lemme tell you something, that 10 bucks, 15 bucks from the city all day long.

- That's pretty.

I got some on my face.

What?

Over here?

No, not so much.

Here and here.

Just right in here.

Okay?