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MANHASSET PRESS, DEC. 19 ISSUE
BK IN SO. BEACH, MIAMI TILL DEC 27
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BERNIE'S BANTER DEC. 19, 1996
THE BAGEL SAGA
(Chapter 17, B.B's History Revisited )
The Bagel Revolution
Time was that if you wanted some fresh and delicious crispy bagels you
had to travel to the surrounding communities. Nowadays, our town is
brimming with reliable bagel emporiums . Bagels seem to be everywhere.
Across the country, bagels are now found in every nook and corner
of our land ..Unlike our fresh supplies, much of it is distributed in
supermarket freezers. Following this trend , even donut chains have gotten
into the act, featuring bagels over their fried dough output.
People debate the virtues of this and that bagel but of course, as
everyone knows, New York bagels set the standard and are still a notch
above the rest.
Whence Bagels ?
There you are, munching on a slightly buttered or cream cheesed poppy
or sesame delight, and wondering about the bagel's origins.Well wonder no
more, here is a likely tale of this gastric phenomenon.
Who first produced bagels? . Many claim the honor of its discovery and
development , but we know, for almost sure, that Herschel , son of Itzak ,
a Jewish baker in Austria, , confronted the first bagel around 1690. ( It
wasn't till 1750 or so that they began to use last or family names. Until
then, it was always son of this one, son of that one, making it impossible for
later generations to trace family origins)
First Bagel
The first bagel was commissioned for a special occasion. It was
baked and presented to King John II Sobieski of Poland for saving Vienna
from Turkish invaders. The experimental bagel was purposefully made in
the shape of a riding stirrup in honor of the king's favourite hobby. Later on,
it got its rounder appearance, but kept its opening.
The name came from the German word for stirrup, beugel. Bagel
comsumption spread rapidly to Eastern Europe . In Russia it was called
''bubliki''' and sold on strings until the early 1900's.
American Bageltry
The recipe was first brought to America around 1905, and was
actually kept as secret as possible by a union of 300 workers called Bagel
Bakers Local 338. It was made by hand until the '60s when, Daniel Ezra
Thompson, the Canadian son of David Tomasevich, a European bagel
baker, introduced the Thompson Bagel Machine, which rolled and shaped
bagels.
The invention revolutionized the industry with the machine rolling
200 to 400 bagels an hour. In 1962, Lender's Bagels began using the
Thompson machine and getting its packaged, frozen rolls into grocery.
stores nationwide.
And now that you know most of the story about bagels ,
here's a word about "Byalis ", those marvelous rolls with onions. . They
were invented in Byalistok, Poland by unknown geniuses. If bialys are left
for days in the open air, they harden and can be used as wedges for
furniture, flying frisbees or hockey pucks.
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