About

What is a Bagel?

A hard roll shaped like a doughnut that is made of raised dough and cooked by simmering in water or steaming and then baked to give it a glazed brown exterior over a chewy white interior - it is the only bread that is boiled then baked.

So what makes a Great Bagel?

Weighing in at an impressive 145 grams, our bagels are made from flour, salt, water, brown sugar, and yeast, boiled and baked. They contain no animal by-products, no preservatives and contains less than 1 gram of saturated fat, making it gym friendly.

Evolution of the Bagel

Born into royalty, the Bagel was invented in 1683 by a Jewish baker in Vienna to thank the Polish King for saving the city from invaders. Honouring the King's love of the gee-gees, the baker crafted a hard roll in the shape of a stirrup, hence its original name 'burgel' - German for stirrup.

Its popularity quickly spread throughout Jewish communities in Eastern Europe where the name 'bagel' evolved. Bagels enjoyed an early life full of variety - in Russia they were sold on strings, symbolising good luck and were used for teething babies and helping women during childbirth.

Like many of New York's famous residents, the Bagel emigrated to the Big Apple around 1900 where the recipe was jealously guarded by the Bagel Baker's Union, and quite rightly so.

The Bagel Union's dominance was broken in the early 1960s when a Canadian invented the bagel machine and the bagel was set free.

In May of 1998, a Bagel Baker from Washington DC opens Wholly Bagels in Wellington, New Zealand. And the first Bagel Aotearoa was born and sold. And even with our widespread popularity among foodies our bagels are still, and always will be, baked to the traditional method taught in America. It makes you proud, doesn't it?