Maria Balinska

This short history of bagels can be interesting but nothing to write home about. The author describes various ring-shaped breads that are boiled and baked then moves on to possible origins of the bagel in central Europe. She describes bagel myths such as the relation of the bagel to Polish King Jan Sobieski and the appearance of the bagel in songs and stories. The history of the bagel is a history of bakers as well as the history of the Jewish community. In America, the bagel starts out as an immigrant food and Balinska describes in detail the powerful bakers’ union in New York. The final chapters deal with the mass marketing of the bagel.

Balinska has clearly done a lot of research and much of the history is interesting even if sometimes the topic moves far from bagels. She pretty much stays only in Poland though – surely there must have been important events in bagel history in other countries. There was perhaps too much on union politics. The chapter on the Americanization of bagels is the best – first several technical developments had to happen (machines to make the bagels, frozen bagels for transport), then Balinska describes the promotion and distribution of the bagel. It was fun to see some early articles describing what exactly a bagel was. The last chapter describes the life of the bagel in Canada and the U.K. as well as a common concern about which bagels are authentic.… (mehr)

I half-expected a jolly book of anecdotes and recipes mingled with cartoon Jewish characters speaking TV Yiddish. In fact this is a work of careful scholarship: a proper history of bagels. The author has researched the subject well and makes good historical judgments on the evidence. But I have two reservations on the scholarship. First, the author's first love is clearly Polish history and language, and I wondered whether she gave too much emphasis to Poland at the expense of other countries. I find it difficult to believe that countries outside Poland didn't also contribute something worth recounting. Second, I would have preferred more information on the preparation of bagels; surely the size, ingredients, and cooking of bagels are themselves important items of historical evidence. (And one niggling point: the 'bagel' pictured on the front cover is an abomination.)… (mehr)