History of the bagel

People seem to have strong feelings about bagels. The other day I read that someone claimed that a decent bagel cannot be found outside of New York and Montreal. I am not a bagel purist, but I certainly enjoy a nice toasted one with butter. However, very recently, while at “Wayne’s Bagels”, I discovered something new about this boiled then baked piece of dough: it has a strong Polish connection. In fact, the first mention of a bagel was apparently found in Kraków (Poland) in the 1600’s; bagels were offered as a gift to women in childbirth. I am not sure how I would feel about receiving a bagel while giving birth, but the connection to the part of Poland my family is from got me curious. It seems that “the round shape of the bagels was believed to have magical powers to ring good luck to the newborn and to symbolize long life.”  

Reading on: “According to a legend, the world’s first bagel was invented in 1683 by a Viennese baker to pay tribute to the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski, who had saved the people of Austria from an onslaught of Turkish invaders.” Well then, let me honour the king and I’ll have a fully loaded plain bagel, please.