Bagel is basically a ring-shaped bread made out of yeasted wheat dough, which offers a chewy interior with a crisp exterior. The huge popularity of this bread really makes us wonder at times about the history of bagels as food. However, like almost all foods, opinions about the origin of the term “bagel” as well as the food in itself hugely differ.
Origin of the word:
“Bagel”, some believe, has originated from “beugal” or “bugel”, which means a bale or a bow. Traditional bagels were hand-shaped and hence, were not perfectly circular. Instead, quite often, they were found to be slightly stirrup-shaped. It is this shape as well as the similarities between the words that make historians believe in this etymology.

However, there are others who believe that “bagel” had originated from the word “beugal”, meaning “a round loaf of bread”, used commonly in Yiddish and Austrian German. In southern German dialects, “beuge” also refers to a pile and some believe that this is the origin of the term.

Another set of historians relates the shape of the food to the origin of the term “bagel”. They believe that “bagel” may have been a direct transliteration of the Yiddish “beygl” (derived from Old English “beag” and Middle High German “bougel”), which literally means “ring”. It is the ring shape of these traditional breads that make them earn this name. Some also believe that the word has been derived from the Austrian German “beugel”, which in turn refers to a kind of croissant.

Origin of bagel as food:
While talking about bagels’ history, curiosity revolves around the question of the food’s origination as well. Many credit the origination of bagel to a Viennese baker who came up with this kind of bread to commemorate the victory of the Polish king Jan III Sobieski over the Turks in 1683. The typical beugel or stirrup shape was given to the bread to commemorate the fact that the liberated Austrians had clung to the king’s stirrup as he rode by.

However, quite contrary to the common legend, evidences show that it was actually invented much earlier in Krakow, Poland. In Poland, it was believed to be invented as a competitor to “bublik” – a lean bread of wheat flour used for Lent. Gradually, during the 17th Century, bagel became the staple diet for the Polish.

Another common myth about bagels’ history revolves around the popular Jewish tradition of making bagels on Saturday evenings, at the conclusion of the Sabbath. The Jewish Sabbath restrictions never permitted the Jewish people to cook during the period of the Sabbath. Compared to other types of bread, bagels could be baked very quickly as soon as the Sabbath ended and this, in turn, had led to their immense popularity.

The shape of the bagels also have certain believes around it. Some state that bagels were traditionally used as a “gift to women in childbirth”. There are other cultures that believe that the circular shape of the bagel represents the continuity of the life cycle and good luck. While these symbolic interpretations hold their own strong grounds, the practical aspects of such a shape are significant too. The basic ring-shape not only allows even baking, the holes were used to thread wooden dowels and then the bagel set was displayed to the customers. This not only attracted and appealed the buyer, it also made it easier for the sellers to handle and transport the bread-lot.

Thus, with gradual times, bagel gained more and more popularity. The immigrant Jews introduced bagels to the Americans and its popularity gradually spread in North America, Canada and United Kingdom in the last quarter of the 20th century. The softness and goodness of a well-baked bagel, topped with roasted sesame or poppy seeds and other taste enhancers is surely to steal anyone’s heart away at any point of time.

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