Krakow Feature

In an interesting caprice of culinary history, Bagelmama in Kraków's Kazimierz District is the only bagel shop in Poland. And to think that bagels were probably invented here! The 1610 community regulations of Kraków report that bagels were presented to women in childbirth. Legend has it that the bagel was popularized in Vienna, where it was baked to commemorate the Polish King Sobieski's 1683 triumph over the Turks. It was then named after beugel, (German for stirrup). Around 1900, Polish-Jewish immigrants brought this great bread to New York City, where it continues to thrive. Yet the bakery Pan Beigel ("Mr. Bagel" in English), the original bagel bakery in Kraków's Kazimierz District, which opened in 1915, has long since closed and disappeared. What a coincidence to find that its newly minted successor, Bagelmama, which is owned by Nava, an American expat, musician, and caterer, has opened up in exactly the same location. And so the history of the bagel has come full circle (with a hole in the middle).