A bagel is a bread product traditionally made of yeasted wheat dough in the form of a roughly hand-sized ring which is first boiled in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior. Bagels are often topped with seeds baked onto the outer crust with the most traditional being poppy or sesame seeds. Some have salt sprinkled on the bagel.
It has become a popular bread product in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom especially in cities with large Jewish populations, such as Montreal, New York, Toronto and London, each with different ways of making the bagel.
Bagels are distinct from the similarly shaped doughnuts and from the similarly textured bialys, primarily because of the cooking method amongst other differences. Russian bubliks are very similar to bagels, but are somewhat bigger, have a wider hole, and are drier and chewier. Pretzels, especially the large soft ones, are also very much like bagels, the main exceptions being the shape and the alkaline water bath that makes the surface dark and glossy.
History
The bagel was invented in Central Europe, possibly in Kraków as a 1610 document mentions beygls given as a gift to women in childbirth. This is cited as the earliest known reference, but the document is not absolutely clear about what a beygl is. Also uncertain is the relationship, if any, to the sweet Hungarian pastry, bejgli.
An oft-repeated story states that both the bagel as well as the croissant originated in 1683 in Vienna, Austria, when an Austrian baker created them to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Vienna over the Turks that sieged the city. Similar to the crescent-like bend croissant (Hörnchen in German, little horn) which is said to have been inspired by the Turkish flags, the bagel is supposedly related to the victorious final cavalry charge led by King John III Sobieski of Poland. Thus, the baked good was fashioned in the form of a stirrup (German: Steigbügel, or the similar Bügel-shaped horseshoe, or saddle, tales vary).
That the name originated from beugal (old spelling of Bügel, meaning bail/bow or bale) is considered plausible by many, both from the similarities of the word and due to the fact that traditional handmade bagels are not perfectly circular but rather slightly stirrup-shaped. (This fact, however, may be due to the way the boiled bagels are pressed together on the baking sheet before baking.) Also, variants of the word beugal are used in Yiddish and Austrian German to refer to a round loaf of bread (see Gugelhupf for an Austrian cake with a similar ring shape), or in southern German dialects (where beuge refers to a pile, e.g. of wood Holzbeuge)
The bagel came into more general use throughout North America in the last quarter of the 20th century, at least partly due to the efforts of bagel baker Harry Lender, who pioneered the frozen bagel in the 1960s. Today, bagels are enjoyed all over the world, and have become one of the most popular breakfast foods.
Varieties
The two most prominent styles of traditional bagel in North America are the Montreal bagel and the New York-style bagel. The Montreal bagel contains malt and egg but no salt; it is boiled in honey-sweetened water before baking in a wood oven; and it is predominantly either of the poppy "black" or sesame "white" seeds variety. The New York bagel contains salt and malt and is boiled in water prior to baking in a standard oven. The resulting New York bagel is puffy with a noticeable crust, while the Montreal bagel is smaller (though with a larger hole), chewier, and sweeter. Poppy seeds are sometimes called by their Yiddish name, spelled either mun or mon (written מאָן) which is very similar to the German word for poppy, Mohn, as used in Mohnbrötchen.
Type of seasonings
In addition to the plain bagel and the standard poppy or sesame seeds, variants feature different seasonings on the outside, including garlic, onion, caraway, and salt.
The "everything" bagel (also known as a "mish mosh" or "all dressed" bagel) is topped with a mixture of a large variety of toppings; the exact ingredients depend on the vendor. Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, onion flakes, caraway seeds, garlic flakes, pretzel salt, and pepper, are all popular toppings that most vendors use on an everything bagel.
Toppings on bagels
There are several different toppings that are popular on bagels. Bagels topped with cream cheese, lox (salt-cured salmon), tomato, and onion is a popular Jewish dish. A bagel can also be substituted for two slices of bread. In London, bagels are often eaten as a sandwich filled with salt beef. Bagels are sometimes used as breakfast sandwiches, that are filled with eggs, cheese, ham, and other fillings. McDonald's has a line of breakfast bagel sandwiches that contain egg, cheese, and meat combinations between the bagel slices. Pizza bagels are another popular way to prepare bagels, in which they are sliced, then topped with tomato sauce and cheese and then toasted or re-baked.
Bagels are sometimes presliced, but other times they must be cut by the consumer. Improper cutting technique has led to many bagel-related lacerations. Mark Smith, head of George Washington University's Department of Emergency Medicine noted, "The bagel is inherently unstable because it's round. In fact there are two unstable surfaces: the knife against the bagel and the bagel against the table...I theorize that it's difficult to modulate the force needed to get through the exterior once you hit the doughy part, and you cut your finger."[2](Wikipedia)
What a big deal to cut a bagel no?? OMG! WTF! JUST DO IT.
acording to Dr Corsi: TMI: too much information.
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