The EGG-stra Everything Salad Bowl

Who in the world invented Everything seasoning?

The creation of the Everything bagel, and by extension, Everything seasoning, is a topic of some intense debate (there are people who are passionate about bagel seasoning debates). Two main claims remain to this day, both hailing from New York — the city most famously associated with bagels, of course.

Let’s get to the bottom of this.

The first claim comes from David Gussin, who, in the 1980s, was a teenager working at a bagel store on Long Island, New York. He says the Everything bagel was his idea, inspired by the remnants in the bagel oven. After a day’s baking, there would be a tray at the bottom of the oven with a mix of all the bagel toppings that had fallen off throughout the day. Gussin says he swept these toppings together and suggested they be used to create an “everything” bagel.

The other claim is from Seth Godin, a well-known entrepreneur and author, who also says he invented the Everything bagel in 1980 when he was 18 and a student at Tufts University. Godin had a part-time job at a bagel shop, and he says he suggested the idea to his boss, who began selling them.

It’s pretty hard to say definitively who actually holds the illustrious title of True Creator of the Everything Bagel. The concept itself seems both simple and brilliant in hindsight, so it’s entirely possible that it could have been independently conceived by multiple people at once. Regardless of the true origin, the everything bagel has made a pleasant impact on American food culture — one that we’re still appreciating in new ways all the time.