Perhaps we should have saved this post, published a few months ago, for today, because…

July 26th is National Bagelfest Day, the perfect day for that article, which features delicious bagels with different savory and sweet spreads and toppings—including those off the beaten path.

So if you want a true bagelfest, check out the article. Today, we’ll make the record clear on the history of bagels.

Bagel lovers: In addition to National Bagelfest Day, National Bagel Day is January 15th. National Bagels & Lox Day is February 9th.

> A recipe for Sweet & Crunchy Cream Cheese Spread is below.

> Also below: more bagel holidays.
 
 
BAGEL HISTORY

One legend traces the history of the bagel to the shape of a stirrup, to commemorate the victory of Poland’s King Jan Sobieski over the Ottoman Turks in 1683’s Battle Of Vienna. This is not true.

It mirrors another legend of the creation of another popular bread that allegedly commemorates this battle: the croissant.

The story is that the croissant was shaped for the crescent in the Turkish flag; that is to say, to symbolically eat the Turks. Here’s the real history of the croissant.

What is it with these legends regarding bread and the Battle Of Vienna?

The bagel was actually invented earlier the 17th century in Kraków, Poland, as an alternative (some would say, improvement) on the bublik, a traditional Polish-Russian roll that’s also very close to the Turkish simit (photo #3), and which some historians call the ur-bagel.

It looks like a sibling of the bagel, but with a much bigger hole and a recipe to make it even denser and chewier than the bagel that emigrated to New York.

The bublik was originally designed for Lent, but in the 16th century began to become a staple of the Polish diet.

The bagel was an evolution, not a revolution. Other countries also had round, individual-serving breads with a hole in the middle (the hole was used for convenience in delivery (strung through with a string) and space-saving at stores and homes. They were also stacked on poles and hawked in the marketplace).

Examples include Greek koulouri (with sesame seeds), Finnish vesirinkeli, and ciambella in Puglia, Italy.

The first documentation of the bagel is in a 1610 list of sumptuary laws.

Many food historians believe that bagel originated from the German word beugal, now spelled bügel, which has numerous meanings, including stirrup and ring.

But why? Two explanations:

 
 
How Bagels Are Made

Yeasted wheat dough is traditionally shaped by hand into a ring shape, around four inches in diameter. In the U.S. today, they are supersized. Measure the next bagel you buy!

With true bagels, the rings are then boiled in water for about a minute. This sets the crust, resulting in the firm, shiny crust of a true bagel.

The longer the boil, the more dense and chewy the interiors—along with the use of high-protein flour to make the dough.

They then get pressed face down in the seeds or other toppings. These days, bagels are also made from other dough types such as bran, gluten-free, oat, pumpernickel, rye, and whole-grain.
 
 
What Did Bagels Have To Do With Pregnancy?

Some of the earliest references to bagels are in the context of gifts to women after labor. Why?

Their shape is circular like the round challah eaten on the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah. A round challah (instead of the everyday oblong shape) signifies good luck: the hope that endless blessings (“goodness without end”) will arrive in the new year.

Likewise, in 17th-century Krakow, the round bagel signified the circle of life and longevity for the child.

Community records in Krakow also note that bagels could be bestowed on expectant mothers as well, and as gifts for midwives.
 
Bagels Arrive In America

Bagels came to the United States with Eastern European Jews, who began to immigrate to the United States in significant numbers after 1880.

However, they didn’t eat them with cream cheese and lox, but with schmaltz (rendered chicken fat—here’s a recipe) and herring. Modern cream cheese wasn’t invented until 1872, in the U.S. (cream cheese history).

[2] We love a sprinkling of capers Photo © Good Eggs).

[3] A comparison of bagel and simit, the latter considered the ur-bagel (photo by Elvira Kalviste | © THE NIBBLE).

[4] In addition to green bagels for St. Patrick’s Day, some bakers make seasonal colors, like these for autumn: pumpkin bagels and red orange and black twisted colors (0photo © Rodnae Productions | Pexels).

Bagel bakeries thrived, and by the early 1900s in New York City, they were controlled by Bagel Bakers Local 338, which had contracts to supply bagel bakeries in and around the city for the workers who prepared all the bagels by hand.

Bagel bakeries were soon found in major cities with large Jewish populations, in Canada as well as the U.S. They became a mainstream food in the last quarter of the 20th century, partly due to the efforts of the second generation at Lender’s Bakery in New Haven, Connecticut.

The son of the founder, Murray Lender, pioneered automated production and distribution of pre-sliced frozen bagels in 1960.

[NOTE: We don’t know what Lender’s Bagels were like before the frozen variety, but these bagels are nothing like New York bagels. The consistency was/is more like a white bread roll in a bagel shape. They are soft and doughy, and lack true bagel flavor. Unfortunately, this style became the template for many bagels produced in America, and what many Americans think of as bagels.]

While early bagels were plain or poppy, they evolved in the 1960s to other popular flavors, like garlic, salt, and sesame. The cinnamon-raisin bagel appeared in the mid-1950s.

Can’t decide? Have it all (mostly) on an everything bagel (here’s the history of the everything bagel, which debuted around 1980).

Cream cheese rose to the occasion, appearing in flavors like pimento, olive, and smoked salmon.

And bagels became not just breakfast bread, but sandwich bread for lunch. Not to mention that double-comfort food, the pizza bagel.

By the turn of the 21st century, you could get a blueberry bagel, cheddar bagel, a jalapeño bagel…any bagel your heart desires. And just about any flavor of cream cheese, too.

More recently, bagels headed into space with Canadian-born astronaut Gregory Chamitoff, who took a batch of bagels on his 2008 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. What did he take? Eighteen sesame seed bagels. The record does not say if he brought cream cheese or lox.
________________

*It is made in most of Central and Eastern Europe.
 

If you like raisin bagels, or raisin and walnut cream cheese, here’s a spread to match from Eat Wisconsin Cheese.

It’s made lighter by substituting cottage cheese for part of the cream cheese. Or, you can substitute cream cheese for the cottage cheese.

Ingredients For 2-1/2 Cups

1. COMBINE all ingredients in a medium bowl, using a spoon or electric mixer. Blend well.

2. COVER and chill 4 hours or overnight, for the flavors to meld. Serve with toasted bagels, toast or muffins.
 
 
BAGEL HOLIDAYS

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Don’t let National Ice Cream Month (July) pass without doing something special.

A year ago, Baskin-Robbins sent us ice cream and beer pairings of their favorite flavors, We found the article in our drafts folder, which inspired today’s tip:

Love beer? Love ice cream? Don’t hesitate to serve them together. Beer floats like the Guinness Float have been popular for several years. The recipe is simple:

Add ice cream to the glass and top with beer.

If you prefer hard cider to beer, this tip works for you, too; maybe even better, given the sweet succulence of some ciders.

You can experiment with other types of beer floats, as well as open a beer to serve with a dish of ice cream, plain or à la mode.

Beyond floats, have a dish of ice cream or a sundae. You could have a cone, but the idea of a cone in one hand and a beer in the other is too much of a balancing act for us. (Perhaps that’s where a beer drinking helmet comes in handy.)

In fact, have a pairing party with some basic flavors (chocolate, coffee, vanilla). The pairings go far beyond lambic and fruit ale. How about:

 
The pairing concept works with sorbet, as well. We just polished off an Angry Orchard Summer Honey Cider with some Lactaid vanilla ice cream.

We’ve previously covered beer-and-ice cream articles, such as:

 
You can make those recipes, but why not strike out on your own to find the pairings you like best. You can pair beer with ice cream or sorbet. Just follow three simple rules.
 
 
HOW TO PAIR BEER & ICE CREAM

1. Start with basic flavors. Once you know what you like, you can go for the more complex.

2. Avoid beers that are bitter, crisp or dry. Instead, choose those with some residual sweetness.

3.Look for a beer with notes that match the ice cream. Different beers can have notes of chocolate, citrus, coffee, fruit, spice. For fall, e.g., there’s pumpkin ale to go with pumpkin spice ice cream.
 
 
BASKIN-ROBBINS PAIRINGS

These pairings were recommended by John Holl of All About Beer Magazine. with his comments in quotes. They’ll give you more ideas on how to pair.

[2] A coffee stout ice cream float. Here’s the recipe (photo © Beautiful Booze).

[3] A vanilla ice cream sundae with salted caramel and honey peanuts, served with brown ale. Here’s the recipe (photo © Somewhere Over The Kitchen).

[4] If you’re not a beer lover, try hard cider instead. Angry Orchard’s seasonal Summer Honey Cider is a good start (photo © Sanura Weathers).

[5] Strawberry ice cream with a Hefeweizen? Who knew? (photo © Baskin-Robbins).

*Gose is an old, top-fermented German sour beer that originated in Goslar. An unfiltered wheat beer, cloudy gose beers have a spiciness from the addition of ground coriander seeds, a sharpness from the addition of salt, and a lemony tartness. Some are also flavored with syrups.\

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[2] A tequila-watermelon cocktail. The recipe is below (photo courtesy Milagro Tequila).

[3] After harvesting, piñas are roasted in a stone oven (photo © Casa Noble Tequila).

[4] Pulque: what the Aztecs drank before the conquistadors taught them how to distill (photo © Mexico News Network).

July 24th is National Tequila Day. How about some tequila trivia?
 
 
THE AGAVE PLANT

 
 
THE TEQUILA

 
 
DRINKING TEQUILA

 
 
TEQUILA SALES

 
 
OK, you’ve earned your drink. Happy National Tequila Day!

If you are multiplying this recipe, consider pulsing the watermelon in a blender instead of muddling.

 
Ingredients For 1 Drink

 
Preparation

1. MUDDLE the watermelon and agave in a mixing glass. Add the remaining ingredients and shake with ice.

2. STRAIN into a martini glass and garnish as desired.
 
 
MORE: TEQUILA COCKTAIL RECIPES, HISTORY &: MORE

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August 31st is National Trail Mix Day, but we’re jumping the gun with today’s tip.

Trail mix is a popular grab-and-go snack. Leave out the chocolate chips (substitute toffee chips or M&Ms), and it’s a great hot-weather grab-and-go.

It’s also fun to make your own creative blend of ingredients.

12+ USES FOR EXTRA (LEFTOVER) TRAIL MIX

Turn trail mix leftovers into:

 
 
RECIPE: SPICY TRAIL MIX POPCORN

This recipe is adapted from Walnuts.org. Here are more recipes incorporating cheese, peanut butter and other ingredients.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325°F. Line a large baking tray with parchment paper or no-stick aluminum foil; set aside.

2. COMBINE the egg whites in a large bowl with the Worcestershire sauce, paprika, cayenne, cumin, curry, salt, and pepper. Whisk until very well combined.

3. ADD the trail mix and toss well to coat thoroughly. Add the popcorn and toss until the popcorn is well-speckled with the granola mixture. You will still see much of the white popcorn, but that’s O.K.

4. TRANSFER the mixture to the prepared baking tray; spread it over the entire sheet. Bake until the coating is dry and the popcorn is crisp, about 15 minutes. Allow to cool.

5. ADD the raisins and mix well. You can store the popcorn in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.

[2] Top a smoothie. Here’s the recipe for this chocolate breakfast smoothie from Natural Comfort Kitchen.

[3] Here’s the recipe from Natural Comfort Kitchen (with homemade yogurt).

[4]Is it trail mix popcorn, or popcorn with trail mix. Here’s the recipe from Delicious Meets Healthy.

Mix and match:

 
 
THE HISTORY OF TRAIL MIX
 
 

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[3] What could make it better? Some chocolate and sea salt. Here’s the recipe from Rook No.17.

[4] Piloncillo, a cone of panocha. Here’s more about it from Sweet Potato Chronicles.

July 22nd is National Penuche Day. Penuche (pen NOO chee) is often called brown-sugar fudge, but it’s actually a brother or sister.

While it follows the same preparation method, what makes it different is the use of brown sugar rather instead of white, and plain milk instead of cream. (The other ingredients common to both are butter and vanilla).

> The recipe for penuche is below.

> Also below is the history of penuche.

Penuche has a tannish color, a result of caramelization. Caramelization also engenders a more complex sugar flavor, with notes of butterscotch or caramel.

You may encounter penuche with different spellings: panocha, penocha, penochi, panucci, pinuche and penuchi, among others.

In the Southern United States, it is called creamy praline fudge, and brown sugar fudge candy.

 
For Both Penuche And Fudge

 
But using milk instead of cream gives penuche a lighter body.

Over time, some cooks substituted evaporated milk or sweetened condensed milk in their preparation.

Penuche Variations

In recent years, a version with maple syrup has surfaced in New England. With the popularity of salted caramels, versions have appeared topped with a layer of chocolate fudge and sea salt (a great idea, by the way).
 
Ready to make some penuche?
 
 
RECIPE: CLASSIC PENUCHE

Nuts add another flavor dimension and can be larger pieces or chopped to your desired consistency.

You may note that some recipes add corn syrup to prevent crystallization. But if you’re planning to scarf these within a few days, it’s not an issue.

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. LIGHTLY BUTTER an 8×8-inch pan and set aside.

2. COMBINE the sugar and milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, let the temperature rise to the soft-ball stage, 236°F.

3. REMOVE the pan from heat. Add butter but do not stir. Set aside to cool to lukewarm, 110°F.

4. ADD the vanilla and beat until the mixture is smooth, thick, and creamy. Add the nuts and pour into the prepared pan. When set, cut into squares.

Variation

For comparison, here’s a recipe for penuche made with condensed milk.

PENUCHE HISTORY

While brown sugar-based fudge existed previously, penuche appears to have originated in New England. Brown sugar, light or dark, provides a hint of molasses that yields a spicier, richer flavor than regular white sugar.

The difference between a lighter and darker tan color is light versus dark brown sugar. A dark brown sugar recipe has more of a molasses taste.

While the origin of penuche isn’t known for certain, it looks like a descendant of a Scottish confection called tablet.

We’ve pieced together some background.

[6] Scottish tablet seems to be the closest relative to penuche. Here’s the recipe from London Eats.

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