Where Did Bagels Come From?
For a long time, in Poland, Jews were not allowed to bake bread because they were seen as enemies of the church, further deeming them unworthy of bread, a vehicle of holy connection between Jesus and the church. Poland's era of the “Nobles Democracy” changed that for Jews. As conflict was arising in many countries, Poland was taking the lead in acceptance, education, and understanding. Poles identified themselves as citizens of their country while almost every other European country was organized through religious, ethnic, or linguistic groups. This broad mindset allowed Jews to bake and even sell their bread in the late 13th century! Of course, many churches thought this was too radical and some Polish bishops did not allow Christians to buy food from Jews. When Jews were allowed to work with boiled bread, the bagel could have been made to comply with that rule. Boiling also makes the bagels stay fresher for longer. Bagels became street food of the people and were sold on poles or hung from strings thanks to the hole. Many Jews turned to selling bagels when things were bleak.
We know that they probably came from Germany or Poland, but their exact history is a bit murky. One theory is that they came to Poland from Germany during the 14th century when a big migration happened. As Germans brought their soft pretzels, also a yeasted dough that is boiled and then baked, to Poland, they became easily accessible and popular. From the pretzel, obwarzanek was formed, a round and twisted bread with a hole in the middle. This bread was eaten by Queen Jadwiga of Poland, who was known for her charity, for Lent instead of more rich breads and pastries. Obwarzanek wasn’t quite the people’s food, but it was much more common than expensive pastries and fancy, rich breads. Most Poles could only afford breads that were made out of rye flour, but obwarzanek was made from white wheat which was very expensive. Ring-shaped breads were also popular in Italy which still has the taralli and ciambelle and China with the girde.
Another theory is that in the 17th century a Viennese baker in Austria could have made the first bagel because the baker was paying tribute to the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski who had fought off invading Turkish armies. The king loved horses and so the baker made the dough into the shape of a stirrup, or a circle. The first written record of bagels was in 1610 when Poles in the city of Krakow had a regulation stating that bagels should be given to a woman as a gift after childbirth. The round shape symbolizes good luck and long life, similar to challah which symbolizes a full year.
In the 19th century, Polish bakeries became spots where young Jews would discuss new, radical political ideas. There is always a reason to be at a bakery, so no one had to come up with reasons for why they were there. Various political and age groups went daily, so bakeries were a safe space to blend in. Bagel bakers worked under strenuous conditions with no air circulation in basements and working fourteen+ hours a day for six or seven days a week. Baker unions were formed and were well known in left-wing politics.
In the late 19th century, Eastern European Immigrants brought bagels to the US. In the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Jews sold bagels on pushcarts, one of the few jobs that was available. They branched out of the mostly Jewish market into the mainstream around the 1970s with the Lenders family who marketed frozen bagels, calling them the “Jewish English Muffin” on national television ads. By 1984, Kraft Foods bought the company. Do you know what else Kraft makes? Philadelphia Cream Cheese! Bagels became a multibillion-business by the mid-90s in America. The Jews who immigrated to Canada, specifically Toronto and Montreal, created their bagels which are boiled in water with honey and the end product is smaller and denser than NY bagels.
In the 20th century, bagels have become softer and sweeter as they moved out of the NY bubble and into the west and mass markets. Hand shaping soon became machine rolling, boiling became steaming to cut downtime, and bakeries switched from stone ovens to steel. Because of all of these changes the bagel has become more like a savory, chewy donut.
Despite all the changes and impersonal mass production, you can always find a fantastic bagel in NY.
Bagels at Zabar's
Obwarzanek
While I haven't made bagels yet, here is my placeholder drawing until that time comes. My go to order is an everything bagel with lox, plain (or scallion) cream cheese, onions, and capers!
Sources:
Balinska, Maria. The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread". New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2008.
Fiegl, Amanda. “A Brief History of the Bagel.” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution,
December 17, 2008. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/a-brief-history-of-
Roden, Claudia. “How the Bagel Became the Most Famous Jewish Food.” My Jewish Learning.
Accessed November 22, 2020. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-bagel/.
Sarna, Shannon. “The History of Bagels in America: The Nosher.” My Jewish Learning,
September 17, 2018. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/the-history-of-bagels-
Weinzweig, Ari. “The Secret History of Bagels,” July 17, 2013.
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