Running Head: BAGELS

Bagels
Kerry Nefferdorf
CIV

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Bagels

Round breads with a hole in the middle have existed in different forms in different
cultures as far back as Ancient Egypt The one we know as the bagel, however, is from Poland.
There is a story that it was invented in tribute to King Jan Sobieski in 1683 after the Battle of
Vienna. The roll was made in the shape of the Kings stirrup and named beugel, the Austrian
word for stirrup.
This accuracy of this story is doubtful, however, as the word bajgiel appears in the
Krakow City Regulations of 1610. It is mentioned as something that is given as a gift to women
in labor. This was probably because the circular shape was thought to be good luck, as well as
representing the cyclical nature of life.
It is certain, however, that Jan Sobieski was the first king to allow those who were not
members of the Krakow Bakers Guild to bake white bread and bagel-like rolls called
obwarzanek. This meant that Jewish bakers were allowed to bake bread within the city walls for
the first time, and bajgiels grew in popularity and importance to Jewish culture.
Bagels had made their way to America by 1900, when 70 bakeries were making them in
New Yorks Lower East Side. The International Beigel Bakers' Union was formed in 1907 and
held a monopoly on bagel creation in New York City.
By the 1950s, bagels had become popular enough that a recipe appeared in Family
Circle magazine, and in 1956 the Lenders wholesale bagel bakery in New Haven, CT started
freezing bagels, packaging them in plastic bags, and shipping them to supermarkets around the
country. Today, the bagel is a well-known and well-loved piece of American culture at large, an
ethnic food that has been fully assimilated into the nations diet.

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Bibliography

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Gisslen,W.(2013).ProfessionalBaking(Sixthed.).Hoboken,NJ,UnitedStatesofAmerica:
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Nathan,J.(2008,1112).AShortHistoryoftheBagel.Retrieved24,2015,fromSlate:
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2008/11/a_short_history_of_the_bagel.html
TrowbridgeFilippone,P.(2015).BagelHistory.Retrieved24,2015,fromAboutFood:
http://homecooking.about.com/od/foodhistory/a/bagelhistory.htm