It’s funny what little things we just take for granted and really have little knowledge of. Take bagels for instance. You probably already know that they are boiled before baking (they are the only bread product that is boiled), but do you know where they came from originally? Me either. I simply took my bagels for granted, enjoying the dense chewiness and crisp crust whenever I could without a single thought for their background and history. All that changed yesterday when my wife and I went to our favorite bagelry for some delicious bagel breakfast sandwiches.
Me: I guess we should enjoy these now because we probably won’t be able to get good bagels in Bangkok
Wifey: I’m not sure, we might find someplace. Are bagels from French?
Me: Ummmmm…I’m not really sure. I know we always think of New York bagels around here as being the best, but did they originate there? I don’t think they did, but I don’t think they come from France either. I guess I’ll have to find out.
So, find out I did because I’m just curious like that.
You might not be surprised to learn (although I was) that bagels were invented over 500 years ago in Poland! Now it might just be because I grew up within 100 miles of New York City, but I always thought of bagels in connection with Jewish people, but it turns out that they were invented in Poland long before the Jewish adopted them and even before that there was a similar bread product being made in Russia.
Jewish people took to bagels so well because of the short cooking time of the bagel. Jews are not permitted to cook during their Sabbath so having a bread that would cook quickly at the end of the Sabbath was convenient for them. A tradition sprung up in many observant Jewish families to make bagels on Saturday evenings.
These same Jewish families then brought the bagel with them to London in the 19th century and the America and Canada in the early 20th century. The bagel business in New York City was controlled by a bagel bakers union (the Bagel Bakers Local 338) for many decades, which explains why I always think of Jewish in connection with bagels.
So, there you have it, a quick history of the bagel and here as promised are my first photos taken with the new Nikon D3100. Thanks to my beautiful wife for the camera and thanks to The New York Bagelry for the delicious breakfast. And to answer my own statement…I don’ think there are many Eastern European Jews that emigrated to Thailand so finding good bagels in Bangkok might be a bit dicey. You and I will have to wait to find out.
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Love this post! And no I didn’t even know they were boiled before baking.
Great photo.
Hello Steve,
I actually got onto your Blog via Foodiva from Dubai where I started my Blog some four years ago. I moved a year ago to Bangkok and of course with me; my Blog. Why I am commenting on your post? There is just a newly openend Bagel Bakery next door from me, called of course BKKBagel Bakery: http://www.bkkbagelbakery.com/
Check it out, I did and keep going back!
By the way; NIKON is the way to go!
Best Regards from The Big Mango, Chris
Hey Chris, thanks for the heads up and you are actually the third person who’s given me a heads up on this new bagel place. Can’t wait to get back to Bangkok and check them out! Will give you a shout once we are back in The Big mango!
Love the new look of your site and I have to say the photography rocks! NIKON I assume?
I moved to the UK and bagels here are lame! So ive had to make my own. Definitely work on a recipe before you go, and consider ingredients that might be hard to find in Thailand, like malt syrup and high-gluten flours. Check out TheFreshLoaf.com (?) for a good primer.
I’ll check that out, but I understand there is a new bagel place that opened recently in Bangkok that might serve to satisfy my cravings!
The Montreal style bagels are also famous around the world. The Jewish immigrants from eastern Europe brought them and they’re now part of the Montreal culture and cuisine. They are shaped as the NYC bagels but a little bit smaller, sweeter and denser with a larger hole and hand made. baked on a wood-fire oven , whose irregular flames give it a dappled light-and-dark surface colour. In many Montreal establishments bagels are still produced by hand and baked in wood-fired ovens, often in full view of the customers.[2] There are two predominant varieties: black-seed (poppy seed), or white-seed (sesame seed).
The Montreal bagels sound really interesting…I’d like to try them. Maybe I can get my son to pick up some next time he’s in Montreal. Sounds like a fun process to watch while you await your fresh bagels! How fun!
Great camera…food photography is a tricky business! Great bagel facts and yum photograph!
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Glad you like the photo, its my first of a new budding hobby and I hope to improve by leaps and bounds by the time we get to Bangkok.
Very cool.. I too had no idea of it’s history. And the camera takes awesome pics… i’m going to be saving up for a new one myself…at the moment I use my Nikon coolpix… it takes awesome quality pics, but want something a little more than just a point and shoot. perhaps before my europe trip in october. we shall see…. a dream as of right now
Yeah the camera is awesome, now we just need to make the photographer equally awesome
now I know where bagels come from.. anw, I just knew that it’s boiled before baking.. thanks for your info.. I find that your blog is awesome, you write review, add knowledge and share great pictures.. thanks for visiting my blog and you’re on my blog roll list
it’s good to exchange link.. gonna read your previous post 
ciao
Thanks for the kind words and you’re on mine as well. Hope you enjoyed the previous post
Way to go! Could be the only way to get your bagel fix in Thailand, and we will benefit at the same time! I’m excited…can’t wait!
Oh, I forgot to say, I want a camera like that!
Yeah, the camera is da bomb!
Thanks for the interesting history on bagels! We discovered, actually, a frozen bagel available at Publix, here in the southern U.S., that’s as close as we can get to N.Y. bagels (especially for at home)…it’s called Ray’s N. Y. Bagels. My husband actually had to lobby Publix to continue this brand at our location, and he won! You bake it (I use toaster oven) for less than 10 minutes…..really good!
I, being a big baker, once bought all what was suppose to be the necessary ingredients to make my own bagels…not quite what I wanted. I challenge you to learn to bake your own before you go to Thailand and give us an on-line lesson!
I accept your challenge. I was thinking I needed to learn this anyway before heading off to Thailand. It may not be anytime soon though as I’m not a baker really and I fear my initial attempts may be less than successful.