Twisted Kraków Bagels

If you’ve ever been to the southern city of Kraków, you’re sure to have noticed vendors selling obwarzanki, twisted bagels, out of blue-painted pushcarts. These bread rings have a long history and a protected status in modern times. Before the nineteenth century, as per a fifteenth-century law, only certain bakers (read: non-Jews) chosen by the bakery guild, were allowed to sell obwarzanki within the city walls. Once the rules relaxed, the quality and freshness of obwarzanki was still stric