![]() Sesame bagel | |
Alternative names | Bajgiel, beigel, beygl |
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Type | Bread |
Place of origin | Poland |
Region or state | Europe, North America, Israel |
Associated cuisine | Jewish, Polish, American, Canadian, and Israeli |
Created by | Jewish communities of Poland |
Serving temperature | Room temperature |
Main ingredients | Wheat dough |
Variations | Montreal-style bagel, pizza bagel, bagel toast |
A bagel (Yiddish: בײגל, romanized: beygl; Polish: bajgiel; also spelled beigel)[1] is a bread roll originating in the Jewish communities of Poland.[2] Bagels are traditionally made from yeasted wheat dough that is shaped by hand into a torus or ring, briefly boiled in water, and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior.
Bagels are often topped with seeds baked on the outer crust—traditional choices include poppy and sesame seeds—or with salt grains. Different dough types include whole-grain and rye.[3][4] The basic roll-with-a-hole design, hundreds of years old, allows even cooking and baking of the dough; it also allows groups of bagels to be gathered on a string or dowel for handling, transportation, and retail display.[5][6]
The earliest known mention of a boiled-then-baked ring-shaped bread can be found in a 13th-century Syrian cookbook, where they are referred to as ka'ak.[7] Bagel-like bread known as obwarzanek was common earlier in Poland as seen in royal family accounts from 1394.[8] Bagels have been widely associated with Ashkenazi Jews since the 17th century; they were first mentioned in 1610 in Jewish community ordinances in Kraków, Poland.[2]
Bagels are now a popular bread product in North America and Poland, especially in cities with a large Jewish population.[2] Bagels are also sold (fresh or frozen, often in many flavors) in supermarkets.