A bagel is a ring-shaped bread made of yeasted wheat dough. It was invented in Krakow, Poland around 1610 and quickly became a staple of the Jewish community diet. Later, bagels were brought to America by immigrant Jews who started developing bagel businesses.
Today, bagels are very popular in North America, divided into two main varieties : The New York style bagel, made with malt and salt and boiled in water then baked in the oven and the Montreal bagel, a more sweet and crunchy version. This one contains sugar and is boiled in honey flavored water prior to baking in a wood-fired oven.
There are numerous possibilities with bagels recipes : it can be made with a white, whole-grain or white dough and even sprinkled with poppy or sesame seeds.
