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.
سو, 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.
سو, 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.