Obwarzanek krakowski
An obwarzanek krakowski is a braided ring-shaped bread that is boiled and sprinkled with salt and sesame or poppy seeds before being baked, similar to a bagel. It has a white, sweetish, moist and chewy crumb underneath a crunchy golden-brown crust. Traditionally sold from street carts, it is a popular snack in the Polish city of Kraków, where it has the status of a regional food with protected geographical indication. Similar to bagels and bubliks it is derived, but distinct, from pretzels.
Etymology
The term obwarzanek krakowski is Polish. The Polish noun obwarzanek, or obarzanek, derives from the verb obwarzać, "to parboil", which refers to the distinctive technique of boiling the dough before baking. The adjective krakowski denotes anything coming from or related to the city of Kraków.Description
An obwarzanek krakowski is a ring-shaped baked product with a hole in the middle. It takes the form of an oval or, seldom, a circle. Its surface is formed by strands of dough, round or oval in cross-section, twisted into a spiral. The colour ranges from light golden to light brown, with a distinct sheen. A typical obwarzanek is in diameter, thick, and weighs.The visible strands of the spiral on the crust are firmish to the touch and the surface varies from smooth to slightly rough. The crumb inside is pale, soft and slightly moist. The taste is sweetish, which is typical of bakery products that are first parboiled and then baked. Obwarzanki are traditionally decorated by sprinkling them with various ingredients, including coarse salt, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds, nigella seeds, mixed herbs or mixed spices, grated cheese, onion flakes, etc.
History
The obwarzanek, like the bagel, is derived from the pretzel. Pretzels held religious significance due to both their ingredients and their shape. Pretzels were made using a simple recipe of flour and water, meaning they could be eaten during Lent when Christians were forbidden from eating eggs, lard or dairy products. As pretzels spread across Europe they made their way to Poland, where the German "beugel" became "bagel" Obwarzanek itself is derived from the Polish word for parboiling, a distinctive process to bagel making. It is believed that the bagel was further developed from this common root.The earliest known references to obwarzanki being baked in Kraków, Poland's former royal capital, appear in the accounts of the court of Queen Jadwiga and her consort King Władysław II Jagiełło. An entry dated to 2 March 1394 mentions the product using both its Polish name and its equivalent in Polish Medieval Latin, circuli, or "rings": "for the queen, for rings of obwarzanki , 1 Kraków grosz".
The obwarzanek krakowski often features in campaigns to promote Kraków. As a well-known symbol of Kraków and Lesser Poland, it is often used in advertising aimed at locals and tourists alike. It has also won an award at the Nasze Kulinarne Dziedzictwo competition, and received a prize at the 2003 Polagra Farm international fair in Poznań. It always features at the Święto Chleba bread festival, an event that is held regularly in Kraków.