Tastes of Faith: Jewish Eating in the United States by Steven J. Ross & Leah Hochman & Lisa Ansell

Author:Steven J. Ross & Leah Hochman & Lisa Ansell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Purdue University Press

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE BAGEL

Appearing in an Eastern European document in 1501 and then mentioned specifically in connection with the Jewish community of Krakow in 1610, the bagel (from the Yiddish, beygen, to bend; Middle High German, bügel, ring; or the Austrian, bügel, a stirrup) was a ring-shaped bread made from flour, salt, water, yeast, and malt syrup. In Russia, it was most likely made from rye flour; in Poland and Ukraine, it was kneaded from a combination of rye and wheat. It was similar in shape to Italian tarralli and brazatelle, to Polish obwarzanki, and to Belarusian smorgon baranki. It had a hard crust (obtained by boiling it first before baking) and a dense, “chewy” interior. Its texture was akin to a pretzel. Though there are legends as to the origin of its toroid shape (viz. so as to resemble a stirrup), it is more likely that the hole caused the dense interior to be cooked more evenly by the boiling water. The hole was also advantageous for removing bagels from boiling water and carrying or displaying them on a stick or on a string (Balinska letter; Balinska, Bagel 1–18, 20–21, 49; Cohen 38; Cooper 150; Ginsberg 8–9, 16; Goodman 91–92; Marks, Encyclopedia 35; Stampfer 178, n. 11, 193).8 Two nineteenth century Polish engravings, a 1926 painting by a Polish Jewish artist, and a number of photos from Eastern Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, show that bagels were, originally, for the most part, the size of large bracelets—truly a hole surrounded by a bit of dough—with the hole approximately four and one-half inches in width and the bread around it about one-half inch in width (Balinksa, Bagel 53–57, 71–72; “People of a Thousand Towns”).9

Figure 1: Warsaw Bagel Vendor, Forvertz, 23 October 1927.

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