A bagel (; ; also spelled beigel) is a
bread roll originating in the
Jewish communities of Poland.
Bagels are traditionally made from
yeasted
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
dough that is shaped by hand into a
torus
In geometry, a torus (: tori or toruses) is a surface of revolution generated by revolving a circle in three-dimensional space one full revolution about an axis that is coplanarity, coplanar with the circle. The main types of toruses inclu ...
or ring, briefly
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 on the outer crust—traditional choices include
poppy
A poppy is a flowering plant in the subfamily Papaveroideae of the family Papaveraceae. Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, '' Papaver somniferum'', is the source of the narcotic drug ...
and
sesame seeds—or with
salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
grains. Different dough types include whole-grain and rye.
The basic roll-with-a-hole design, hundreds of years old, allows even cooking and baking of the dough; it also allows groups of bagels to be gathered on a string or dowel for handling, transportation, and retail display.
The earliest known mention of a boiled-then-baked ring-shaped bread can be found in a 13th-century Syrian cookbook, where they are referred to as .
Bagel-like bread known as
obwarzanek was common earlier in Poland as seen in royal family accounts from 1394. Bagels have been widely associated with
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium CE. They traditionally speak Yiddish, a language ...
since the 17th century; they were first mentioned in 1610 in Jewish community ordinances in
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, Poland.
Bagels are now a popular bread product in North America and Poland, especially in cities with a large
Jewish
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
population.
Bagels are also sold (fresh or frozen, often in many flavors) in supermarkets.
History
Linguist
Leo Rosten wrote in ''The Joys of Yiddish'' about the first known mention of the Polish word derived from the Yiddish word in the "Community Regulations" of the city of
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
in 1610, which stated that the food was given as a gift to women in childbirth. There is some evidence that the bagel may have been derived from
pretzels made in Germany brought by immigrants to Poland.
In the 16th and first half of the 17th centuries, the became a staple of
Polish cuisine. Its name derives from the Yiddish word from the German dialect word , meaning 'ring' or 'bracelet'.
Variants of the word are used in
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
and in
Austrian German to refer to a similar form of sweet-filled pastry; , a pastry filled with
poppy seed
Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the poppy plant (''Papaver somniferum''). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, ...
s, and , a pastry filled with ground nuts. The term is also used in southern German dialects, where refers to a pile, e.g., ('woodpile'). According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, ''bagel'' derives from the transliteration of the Yiddish , which came from the
Middle High German
Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
or 'ring', which itself came from ('ring') in
Old High German
Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
, similar to the
Old English
Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
('ring') and ('to bend, bow'). Similarly, another
etymology
Etymology ( ) is the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning—across time. In the 21st century a subfield within linguistics, etymology has become a more rigorously scientific study. ...
in the Webster's New World College Dictionary says that the Middle High German form was derived from the
Austrian German , a kind of
croissant, and was similar to the German , a stirrup or ring.
In the
Brick Lane district and surrounding area of
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, England, bagels (locally spelled "beigels") have been sold since the middle of the 19th century. They were often displayed in the windows of bakeries on vertical wooden dowels, up to a metre in length, on racks.
Bagels were brought to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
by immigrant Polish Jews, with a thriving business developing in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
that was controlled for decades by
Bagel Bakers Local 338. They had contracts with nearly all bagel bakeries in and around the city for its workers, who prepared all their bagels by hand.
The bagel came into more general use throughout
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...
in the last quarter of the 20th century with automation.
Daniel Thompson started work on the first commercially viable
bagel machine in 1958; bagel baker
Harry Lender, his son,
Murray Lender, and
Florence Sender leased this technology and pioneered automated production and distribution of frozen bagels in the 1960s.
Murray also invented pre-slicing the bagel.
Around 1900, the "bagel brunch" became popular in New York City.
The bagel brunch consists of a bagel topped with
lox, cream cheese,
capers, tomato, and red onion.
This and similar combinations of toppings have remained associated with bagels into the 21st century in the United States.
In
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, the first kosher bagels were brought by from New York in 1989. BagelK created green tea, chocolate, maple-nut, and banana-nut flavors for the market in Japan. Some Japanese bagels, such as those sold by , are soft and sweet; others, such as
Einstein Bros. bagels sold by
Costco in Japan, are the same as in the U.S.
Size change over time
Bagels in the U.S. have increased in size over time. Starting at around ,
by 1915, the average bagel weighed ;
the size began to increase further in the 1960s.
By 2003, the average bagel sold on a Manhattan coffee cart weighed around .
Preparation and preservation

At its most basic, traditional bagel dough contains wheat flour (without
germ or
bran), salt, water, and
yeast leavening.
Bread flour or other high
gluten flours are preferred to create the firm, dense but spongy bagel shape and chewy texture.
With a
dough hydration of around 50–57%, bagel dough is among the stiffest bread doughs.
Most bagel recipes call for the addition of a sweetener to the dough, often
barley malt (syrup or crystals), honey,
high fructose corn syrup, or
sugar
Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose
Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
, with or without eggs, milk or butter.
Leavening can be accomplished using a
sourdough technique or a commercially produced yeast.
Bagels are traditionally made by:
* mixing and kneading the ingredients to form the dough
* shaping the dough into the traditional bagel shape, round with a hole in the middle, from a long thin piece of dough
*
proofing the bagels for at least 12 hours at low temperature ()
* boiling each bagel for 60–90 seconds in water that may contain additives such as
lye,
baking soda,
barley malt syrup, or
honey
Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...
* baking at a temperature between
This production method gives bagels their distinctive taste, chewy texture, and shiny appearance.
In recent years, a variant has emerged, producing what is sometimes called the steam bagel. To make a steam bagel, the boiling is skipped, and the bagels are instead baked in an oven equipped with a steam injection system. In commercial bagel production, the steam bagel process requires less labor, since bagels need only be directly handled once, at the shaping stage. Thereafter, the bagels need never be removed from their pans as they are refrigerated and then steam-baked. The steam bagel results in a fluffier, softer, less chewy product more akin to a
finger roll that happens to be shaped like a bagel. The dough used is intentionally more
alkaline
In chemistry, an alkali (; from the Arabic word , ) is a basic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of a soluble base has a pH greater than 7.0. The ...
to aid browning, because the steam injection process uses neutral water steam instead of an alkaline solution bath.
Bagels can be frozen for up to six months.
Quality
According to a 2012 ''
Consumer Reports'' article, the ideal bagel should have a slightly crispy crust, a distinct "pull" when a piece is separated from the whole by biting or pinching, a chewy inside, and the flavor of bread freshly baked. The taste may be complemented by additions cooked on the bagel, such as onion, garlic, sesame seeds, or poppy seeds. The appeal of a bagel may change upon being toasted. Toasting can have the effect of bringing or removing desirable chewiness, softening the crust, and moderating off-flavors.
Traditionally New Yorkers do not toast bagels; they argue that if a bagel is well made and fresh it should never be toasted.
Some New York City bagel shops, like Murray's in Chelsea and Ess-a-Bagel at 21st and Third Avenue, have had no-toasting policies.
Toasting of bagels in New York City is considered a bastardization
and sacrilege.
Former ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' food critic
Mimi Sheraton called the practice of eating toasted bagels obscene.
A typical bagel has , 1.0–4.5 grams of fat, 330–660 milligrams of sodium, and 2–5 grams of fiber. Gluten-free bagels have much more fat, often 9 grams, because of ingredients in the dough to supplant the wheat flour of the original.
Varieties
New York style
The New York bagel contains malt, is cold-fermented for several days to develop the flavors and enhance the crust, and is boiled in salted water before baking in a standard oven. The resulting bagel has a fluffy interior and a chewy crust. According to CNN, Brooklynites believe New York bagels are the best due to
the quality of the local water.
According to Brooklyn Water Bagels CEO Steven Fassberg, the characteristics of a New York bagel are the result of the recipe formula and preparation method.
Montreal style

Different from the New York style, the Montreal-style bagel contains
malt
Malt is any cereal grain that has been made to germinate by soaking in water and then stopped from germinating further by drying with hot air, a process known as "malting".
Malted grain is used to make beer, whisky, malted milk, malt vinegar, ...
and sugar with no salt; it is boiled in honey-sweetened water before baking in a wood-fired oven. It is predominantly of the
sesame "white" seeds variety (bagels in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
are similar to those made in New York in that they are less sweet, generally are coated with poppy seeds and are baked in a standard oven).
St. Louis style
The
St. Louis style bagel refers not to composition, but to a particular method of slicing the bagel.
The St. Louis style bagels are sliced vertically multiple times, instead of the traditional single horizontal slice.
The slices range from thick.
This style of bagel was popularized by the St. Louis Bread Company, now known as
Panera Bread.
Generally, the bagels are sliced into eight pieces using a
bread slicer, which produces characteristically precise cuts (the bagel is not torn or crushed while slicing).
This particular method of preparation increases the surface area available for
spreads (e.g.,
cream cheese,
butter).
However, it decreases the portability of the bagel and prevents formation of
sandwiches.
Other bagel styles
Other bagel styles can be found elsewhere;
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
-style bagels are baked with steam. American chef
John Mitzewich has a recipe for what he calls San Francisco-style bagels which yields bagels flatter than New York-style bagels, characterized by a rough-textured crust. The traditional
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
bagel (or beigel as it is sometimes spelled) is chewier and has a denser texture.
In Austria, (often also spelled or in its diminutive form) are a traditional
Lenten food. The rings are made from a yeasted dough, rolled out very thin and briefly boiled in salted water before topped with salt and caraway seeds and then baked. Depending on the region, they are sometimes baked to a very hard consistency, making them relatively brittle. Connected with it is the tradition of () at Easter where two people pull on opposite ends of a until it breaks into two pieces. Tearing off the larger piece is meant to bring good luck. In
Vienna
Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
, Eastern
Lower Austria
Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...
and
Burgenland, has taken on the meaning of certain types of
kipferl.
Non-traditional doughs and types
While normally and traditionally made of
yeasted
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
, in the late 20th century variations on the bagel flourished. Non-traditional versions that change the dough recipe include
pumpernickel,
rye,
sourdough,
bran,
whole wheat, and
multigrain. Other variations change the flavor of the dough, often using
blueberry,
salt
In common usage, salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl). When used in food, especially in granulated form, it is more formally called table salt. In the form of a natural crystalline mineral, salt is also known as r ...
,
onion,
garlic,
egg,
cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, biscuits, b ...
,
raisin,
chocolate chip,
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
, or some combination of the above. Green bagels are sometimes created for
St. Patrick's Day.
A flat bagel, known as a 'flagel', can be found in a few locations in and around New York City,
Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
, and Toronto. According to a review attributed to New York's ''
Village Voice'' food critic Robert Seitsema, the flagel was first created by
Brooklyn's 'Tasty Bagels'
deli in the early 1990s.
Large scale commercial sales
United States supermarket sales

According to the
American Institute of Baking (AIB), 2008 supermarket sales (52-week period ending January 27, 2009) of the top eight leading commercial fresh (not frozen) bagel brands in the United States:
* totaled to US$430,185,378 based on 142,669,901 package unit sales.
[Baking Management (2008]
AIB website data: Bagels 2008
from ''Baking Management'', p. 10, March 2009, Statistics from ''Information Resources'', retrieved 2009-03-23 from American Institute of Baking website: Bagels 2008 updated to March 10, 2009;
* the top eight leading brand names for the above were (by order of sales):
Thomas'
Thomas' is a brand of English muffins and bagels in North America, established in 1880. It is owned by Bimbo Bakeries USA, one of the largest baking companies in the United States, which also owns Entenmann's, Sara Lee, Stroehmann, and Arnol ...
,
Sara Lee, private label brands,
Pepperidge Farm, Thomas Mini Squares,
Lender's Bagels (Pinnacle Foods), Weight Watchers and The Alternative Bagel (Western Bagel).
Further, AIB-provided statistics for the 52-week period ending May 18, 2008, for refrigerated/frozen supermarket bagel sales for the top 10 brand names totaled US$50,737,860, based on 36,719,977 unit package sales.
[Baking Management (2008]
AIB website data: Bagels 2008
from ''Redbook'', July 2008, p. 20, Statistics from ''Information Resources''. retrieved 2009-03-23 from ''American Institute of Baking website: Bagels 2008 updated to March 10, 2009
The AIB reported US$626.9 million fresh bagel US supermarket sales (excluding Wal-Mart) for the 52 weeks ending 11 April 2012.
[AIB International](_blank)
Data obtained from SymphonyIRI Group from scanner data from Supermarkets, Drugstores, and Mass Merchandisers (does not includeWal-Mart). Fresh/frozen supermarket sales (excluding Wal-Mart) for the 52 weeks ending 13 May 2012 was US$592.7 million.
The average price for a bag of fresh bagels was $3.27; for frozen it was $1.23.
Similar breads

Many cultures developed similar breads and preparations, such as ''
bubliki'' in
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
,
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
and
Belarus
Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
, and ''obwarzanek'' (in particular ''
obwarzanek krakowski'') in Poland. Somewhat similar in appearance to bagels, these breads are usually topped with sesame and poppy seeds. The ingredients in these breads and bagels somewhat differ, as these breads are made with a different dough using
butter, and sometimes also with milk.
In Italy, ''
taralli'' and ' are breads similar to bagels.
In
Turkey
Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
, a salty and fattier form is called ''açma''. The ring-shaped
simit is sometimes marketed today as a Turkish bagel. Archival sources show that the ''simit'' has been produced in Istanbul since 1525. Based on Üsküdar court records (Şer’iyye Sicili) dated 1593, the weight and price of simit was standardized for the first time. Noted 17th-century traveler
Evliya Çelebi wrote that there were 70 simit bakeries in Istanbul during the 1630s.
Jean Brindesi's early 19th-century oil paintings about Istanbul daily life show simit sellers on the streets.
Warwick Goble made an illustration of the simit sellers of Istanbul in 1906. Simit is very similar to the twisted sesame-sprinkled bagels pictured being sold in early 20th century Poland. ''Simit'' are also sold on the street in baskets or carts, as bagels were then.
The
Uyghurs of
Xinjiang
Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
enjoy ''girdeh nan'' (from
Persian, meaning round bread), a type of
nan, the local bread.
Another bagel-like type of bread is the traditional German ''Dortmunder Salzkuchen'' from the 19th century.
Ka'ak al-Quds (better known in English as the
Jerusalem bagel) is an oblong ring bread, usually topped with sesame seeds, with its origins in Jerusalem. Unlike the bagel, it is not boiled prior to baking.
Cultural references
"Bagel" is also a
Yeshivish term for sleeping 12 hours straight—e.g., "I slept a bagel last night." There are various opinions as to the origins of this term. It may be a reference to the fact that bagel dough has to "rest" for at least 12 hours between mixing and baking
or simply to the fact that the hour hand on a clock traces a bagel shape over the course of 12 hours.
In tennis, a "
bagel" refers to a player winning a set 6–0; winning a match 6–0, 6–0, 6–0 is called a "triple bagel".
"''
Bublichki'' or "''Bagelach'' is a title of a famous Russian and Yiddish song written in
Odesa
Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...
in the 1920s.
The Barry Sisters together with the
Ziggy Elman Orchestra made it popular in the US in 1939. Today it belongs to the repertoire of
klezmer,
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
and pop musicians.
The term "bageling" refers to when a Jew uses a Jewish word or phrase in a conversation, or in the vicinity of a stranger who is also clearly Jewish, in order to inform them that they are also Jewish.
The bagel is a major plot device in the 2022 science-fiction film ''
Everything Everywhere All at Once''.
See also
*
Appetizing store
*
Bagel and cream cheese
*
Bialy (bread)
*
Doughnut
*
Jewish cuisine
*
Pizza bagel
*
Pletzel
*
Simit
References
{{Authority control
Jewish baked goods
Polish cuisine
Seeded breads
Snack foods
Street food