Bagels and Babies
When my baby was born over 31 years ago I faced the same questions that new parents face decades later. What do you do with a teething baby? Back in the 90’s I depended on local papers like the Parents Press to answer some of my questions or my weekly calls to my mom. My mother was first generation with immigrant parents from Poland. She relied on her mother for child rearing advice. When I asked her what to do about teething, she suggested rubbing a wet cloth with some alcohol along the baby’s gum. Rather than introduce my baby to alcohol I decided on bagels. I really cannot remember the exact source of this recommendation, but I froze bagels and whipped one out of the freezer when she began to fuss. One of my favorite photos is one of my daughter lying on her back and holding the bagel to her mouth with her small baby hands.
Apparently teething bagels are more common than I thought. In Detroit, Michigan, the New York Bagel, a bakery known for their bagels also sells New York Bagel Teethers.
I was reminded of the baby teethers when one of my bagel customers sent me an Instagram post of her “happy bagel customer” with a chewy bagel.
Are you interested in making your own Teething Bagels? I am reposting from Mamiverse Food https://mamiverse.com/infants-teething-bagels-52673/
TEETHING BAGELS
Ingredients
1¾ cups lukewarm water
½ TSP dry yeast
2 TSP salt
1½ TSP dry malt (sugar may be substituted)
4-5 cups high-gluten flour (bread flour may be substituted)
Instructions
Mix all ingredients except flour. Add flour and mix into a ball. Knead for 10-15 minutes, adding more flour if necessary. The dough should be stiff. Let dough rest 10 minutes, then out into 12 pieces with a sharp knife.
Now roll each piece of dough on a table to form long cigar-like shapes. Then connect up the two ends by overlapping them about ¾” and rolling the ends together to connect the dough and make a ring shape. Make sure the joint is secure or it will come apart while boiling. Sometimes a bit of water on the two ends makes joining easier.
Cover with a damp towel and let rise 1-1½ hours in a warm spot. In a large pot or kettle bring 1-2 gallons of water to a rolling boil. Place bagels in boiling water and boil until they float (approx. 15-30 seconds). Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. At this time, if you desire, top with poppy or sesame seeds, garlic, onion or salt.
Bake at 500° for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
This recipe first appeared in Los Bagels Recipes and Lore (Publisher: Los Bagels) .
Los Bagels is a multicultural bagel bakery and cafe with two locations in Arcata and Eureka, California. They’ve been serving up their boiled-then-baked bagels since 1984 and sell baked goods that reflect their blended Mexican-Jewish heritage.
BY DENNIS RAEL
Other notes about babies and bagels:
Bagels have been associated with childbirth dating back centuries. According to Maria Balinska, author of The Bagel, there were regulations regarding who may access bagels, who may send for bagels and who may receive them but they were commonly associated with gift giving at the time of a circumcision.
In Poland, bagels were given as good luck gifts to pregnant women to wish them a healthy child. The round shape with no beginning and no end bagels symbolize the eternal cycle of life.They were considered good luck and therefore became associated with times of birth such as circumcision and when a woman was in labor. https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/the-bagel/
Parents, how about this kids song about bagels:
How do you hold a bagel back?
For a free bag of bagels send in your answer!
