The bagel has a rich and complex history that spans centuries and multiple countries. While its exact origins are debated, bagels are believed to have emerged in Jewish communities in Poland, though they have connections to earlier ring-shaped breads from other cultures. Some food historians trace the bagel’s ancestry back to the Arabic world. The earliest known mention of a boiled-then-baked ring-shaped bread can be found in a 13th-century Syrian cookbook, where they were referred to as “ka’ak.” Other researchers believe the bagel evolved from pretzel dough around the 1200s. As Germans migrated to Poland, they brought pretzels with them. Jewish Poles then adapted this bread, putting a hole in the middle and calling it “obwarzanek.” In Poland, Jewish bakers’ guilds made a smaller version of obwarzanek for everyday Jewish consumption, which became known as “bajgiel” in Polish and “beygal” in Yiddish.
Bagels took on various cultural meanings within Polish Jewish communities. They were traditionally given to women who had recently given birth and became part of Jewish mourning rituals. Eventually, Christians also began buying bagels from Jewish bakers for everyday consumption (what’s not to like, right?). The first known written reference to bagels appears in 1610, when the Jewish Council of Krakow issued a regulation advising the local Jewish community not to hold overly lavish celebrations (with bagels) for their babies’ brisses “to avoid making gentile neighbors envious.” I know I would be envious if I didn’t get access to my weekly bagels.
Bagels were brought to the United States by immigrant Polish Jews, with a thriving business developing in New York City that was controlled for decades by Bagel Bakers Local 338, a union that had contracts with nearly all bagel bakeries in and around the city. By 1900, there were 70 bagel bakeries on the Lower East Side of New York alone. In 1907, the International Beigel Bakers’ Union was created, which monopolized bagel production in New York City for years to come.
In 1958, Daniel Thompson (decidedly not Jewish) started developing the first bagel machine, which made the mass production and distribution of frozen bagels possible. This innovation was pivotal for bagels to reach a wider audience (not that it did much for the quality of bagel production). The 1950s marked a turning point for bagels in America. After World War II, Americans became somewhat more accepting of Jewish culture, and Jews were rapidly assimilating, moving to other parts of the city and country, expanding their culinary horizons, and sharing their traditions with the rest of New York and the United States. By the mid-1990s, bagels had grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry in America. Despite the low-carb diet trends, Americans remained devoted to this chewy, ring-shaped bread.
Different styles of bagels have developed in various regions. The New York bagel contains malt, is cold-fermented for several days to develop flavors and enhance the crust, and is boiled in salted water before baking, resulting in a fluffy interior and chewy crust. The Montreal-style bagel contains malt and sugar with no salt, is boiled in honey-sweetened water before baking in a wood-fired oven, and is predominantly of the sesame “white” seeds variety. In Jerusalem, strangely enough, a variation called “ka’ak” or “Jerusalem sesame bagel” is popular. Unlike traditional bagels that New Yorkers enjoy from their local Jewish delis, these are not boiled before baking and are typically served with za’atar (a Middle Eastern spice blend). Sounds a bit like the “everything bagel” in the making.
I recall that when I lived on Long Island in the late 1970s, I would go pick up bagels on Sundays at a local “old world” bagel bakery. I recall the old wooden machinery that moved the floating bagels through the boiling water. I was surprised how involved the process was and how rustic it all seemed. The old men, who were clearly Orthodox Jews, wore their talishs (prayer shawls) under their soiled aprons. They always struck me as very hard-bitten and not in the least bit religious, despite their traditional garb. But for what it is worth, their bagels, hot out of the oven and put into brown paper bags by the dozen, were the best I’ve ever had.
Today, the bagel has transcended its Jewish roots to become a global food phenomenon, though it remains an important symbol of Jewish culinary heritage and immigrant entrepreneurship in America. That tradition has not avoided our hilltop area. Southern California has a large Jewish population, but it is part of California’s overall Jewish community which is the second largest in the country after New York. According to current data, California has approximately 1.19 million Jewish residents, making it the state with the second largest Jewish population in the United States after New York (which has about 1.77 million). Historically, the Jewish population in California was concentrated in Northern California, particularly San Francisco. However, during the 20th century, there was a significant influx of Jews to Los Angeles, and the Jewish population in Southern California eventually surpassed that of Northern California. Several factors attracted Jews to Southern California, including the favorable climate and employment opportunities, particularly in the entertainment industry where many Jews became industry leaders.
Today, the Western United States as a whole (including California) is home to about 25% of all American Jews, representing a distinctive and growing voice within American Jewish life. Within California, there are large Jewish communities in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, San Diego, Sacramento, and Orange County. So, while Southern California has a significant Jewish population, the Jewish community is distributed throughout the state and represents part of the overall American Jewish population, which totals about 2.2% of the total U.S. population. All of that means that we get pretty good bagel alternatives around here.
My local bagel place is highly specialized in that it only sells bagels and the related accoutrement. It is interesting to note that the deli offers, in addition to the traditional New York varieties of bagels (my choice is always the “everything”), some distinctly local variations with Asiago cheese and jalapeños baked in. I have also noticed that, like several fast food chains, they sell a bagel breakfast sandwich with egg and cheese and breakfast meats…so not so very Kosher. The place is run by a young German guy who has a strong German accent and a wonderfully pleasant and caring disposition. I say caring because I notice him always treating the local street people roaming the early morning public spaces with respect and kindness. For that reason, and to keep him making my bagels for me, I always tip him well when I go for bagels every Sunday morning. In fact, I have started a tradition on the hilltop of picking up everything bagels every Sunday, not just for us and our guests, but also for Mike & Melisa and now, Faraj & Yasuko. Since my days at Cornell and my years in NYC, I have become as Jewish as a non-Jewish person can be. So when it comes to bagels, I think it’s important to keep up the tradition of spreading the diaspora via this wonderfully chewy and salty breakfast treat that makes my Sabbath very multi-denominational, as well as a little Polish and German.