Who Invented the Bagel?

There are many conflicting theories about who invented the bagel and where it was invented. According to one theory, the bagel was invented in 1683 by a Viennese baker trying to pay tribute to the King of Poland. The King was famous for his love of horses, so the baker decided to shape his dough into a circle that looked like a stirrup. Beugel is the German word for stirrup and thought to be the origin of the word, bagel. Another theory is that the bagel was invented in Poland in 1267. It was thought that Jews had a disease and if Jews touched or made any type of bread they would cause other people become sick. Therefore, Jews decided to boil their bread to get these so-called “diseases” off, thereby creating the boiled bagel. The best theory I could find claims that bagels were invented back in medieval Poland. It was said that the bagels’ round shape brought good luck in childbirth, symbolized long life, and in general had magical powers. Whether the bagel is German, Polish, cleansing, or magical… the bagel has a long, solid history of being an important and tasty bread product!