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Who Invented the Bagel, Where Did the Bread Roll Come From, and What Does Bagel Mean In Polish?

By Karen Hill

Many North Americans associate bagels with breakfast.

Legend has it that they were originally a homage to a Polish king who saved Vienna, Austria, from a Turkish invasion in 1683.

A local Jewish baker thanked the king by creating a special hard roll in the shape of a stirrup to commemorate the Polish cavalry.

One word used to describe a stirrup in Austria is beugel.

In Yiddish, bagel means a “ring,” often a bracelet.

Sprinkled with onions, a bagel is called a bialy, after the Polish city Bialystock.

The Bagel was invented in Kraków, Poland, as a competitor to the bublik, a lean bread of wheat flour designed for Lent.

In the 16th century, the bajgiel became a staple of the Polish national diet.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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