the Hot Bagel Company

Bagels

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:40:00 +0000

A bagel is a bread-like product.

It is made from yeasted dough and shaped roughly in the form of a ring the size of one’s hand. It is shaped, boiled in water and then baked. The end result is a dense, doughy, chewy center with a browned, harder exterior.

Bagels are sometimes topped with seeds or made with raisins or other items in its center. The most traditional dough is poppy seed or sesame seed bagel dough. Others have salt sprinkled on them.

The bagel has become a popular bread product in the US and Canada, particularly among the Jewish.

See also

History of the Bagel

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:39:46 +0000

The bagel was invented in Central Europe according to a 1610 document.
This historical document mentions giving beygls to women in childbirth as a gift. Another story goes that the croissant and the bagel were invented in 1683 in Vienna, Austria, when local bakers created them to commemorate the victory in the Battle of Vienna over the Turks. The first bagels were made in the shape of a horseshoe.

The name originated from the word “beugal” meaning bale or bail. Variants of the word are used in Yiddish and Austrian German languages to refer to a round loaf of bread. In southern German dialects, “beuge” refers to a pile of something. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, bakeries on Brick Lane in London have been selling bagels.

Ashkenazi Jews brought the bagel to the US in the 1880s. The bagel continues to be extremely popular in New York City among patrons of all types. In the 1920s, bagels were rare in the US with the exception of a few Jewish-dominant cities. The bagel came into more general use throughout North America in the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century.

Types of Bagels

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:39:32 +0000

There are two main styles of bagels.
The Montreal bagel and the New York-style bagel.

The Montreal bagel is boiled in honey-sweetened water before baking it in a wood oven. It contains primarily white sesame seeds or black poppy seeds. It contains malt, egg and no salt.
The New York bagel contains salt and malt and is boiled in water before baking in a standard oven. The resulting bagel is puffy with an obvious crust. The Montreal bagel tends to be smaller, chewier and sweeter.

Other bagel variants

admin — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 07:39:20 +0000

In addition to the plain bagel and the ones with sesame seeds or poppy seeds, there are now several variants.

These variants ingredients include garlic, onion, caraway and salt.

The “everything” bagel is topped with a large mixture of toppings that depends on the vendor.
Bagels can be toped with lox (salt cured salmon), cream cheese, tomato and onion.
A bagel can be substituted for two slices of bread in a sandwich.
Bagels can be used as breakfast sandwiches that are filled with eggs, cheese, ham and other breakfast items.
Pizza bagels are another way to make bagels. Pizza toppings are added to half a bagel and the bagel is toasted.