Bublik

Booblik ( _ru. бублик) is a traditional Russian bread roll very similar to Jewish bagel; however it is somewhat bigger, has a wider hole and much denser and chewier texture. Booblik is a member of a class of bread products made from the dough that has been boiled before baking, which also includes bagels, baranki, sushki, and other similar breads.

History

Boiled dough products have a long history in Eastern Europe, with many claiming that they come back from Byzantine times, but being a type of bagel booblik is much younger, only about 300 years old. Its creation is attributed to Viennese bakers, who created a rings of boiled leavened wheat dough in the shape of stirrups to celebrate the victory over Turks in the year 1683, achieved mostly by cavalry led by Polish king Jan III Sobieski. The German name of a stirrup, "Steigbügel", was transmuted into Yiddish word "beigl". [ [http://vmeste.org/prime/prime_sat5.htm History of bublik and bagel] , retrieved on September 21 2007 (in Russian).] This story is disputed, however, as similar bread rings were recorded as a common gift to women after childbirth as early as in the beginning of 17th century in Jewish communities in Poland.

The beigl (or bagel) then spread across all areas with significant Jewish population, soon reaching Southern Russia and Ukraine [ [http://mirslovarei.com/content_dal/Bublik-2271.html Dahl's dictionary on boobliks] , retrieved on September 21 2007 (in Russian).] , where it was influenced by similar Russian (mainly Moscow baranki) and Greek (koulouri, κουλούρι) [ [http://www.greek-kitchen.com/content/view/632/114/ Koulouri and boobliks] , retrieved on September 21 2007 (in Russian).] products and where it got its current form: a dough ring about twice as big as a common bagel with much denser and drier texture, because similar Russian dishes are generally very dry and crisp. Its name was also heavily russified and come to this current form -- "бублик" (pronounced "boob-leek"). The city of Odessa (now in Ukraine, but historically a Russian settlement) is most commonly considered a birthplace of the Russian booblik.

Boobliks as food

While boobliks are very similar to bagels, their size and much denser dough made them unsuitable for slicing and using as a sandwich base. In Russia and Ukraine boobliks are usually treated not like bread, but like a type of pastry, eaten as a complement to tea or coffee. Therefore, booblik dough is generally sweeter than that of bagel, they are usually glazed with egg yolk, and by far the most popular variety has a liberal amount of poppy seeds added to it.

Boobliks are usually eaten as is, but it is not uncommon to dip booblik into a beverage, a practice that came from eating sushki and baranki, which were very similar in taste, but rather dry and hard and not easily palatable unless moisturized. Another common way of eating booblik is to break it into several fragments and eat them with jam, sour cream, or other similar dip. While they often accompany tea, boobliks, again unlike bagels, are not considered a breakfast food.

Preparation

Boobliks are made from yeast-leavened wheat dough that commonly contains milk, butter, and egg whites and is rather sweet. The following steps are required to make traditional boobliks:

*Prepare dough by adding active yeasts into warm mixture of milk, sugar, and butter, and mixing in flour, salt, and egg whites.
*Proof the dough in warm place until twice in size.
*Shape dough into rings and proof again for 10 minutes.
*Boil boobliks for 15-20 seconds each until they begin to swell.
*Glaze them with egg yolks and sugar mixture and bake until golden brown

Poppy seeds are most popular addition to the dough, as well as several other fillings.

imilar dishes

There are number of similar bread products in Russian cuisine, and main one of this type is baranka - a dough ring somewhat smaller than booblik, but much thinner and drier. While boobliks originates from Pale of Settlement, barankis are an original Russian dish, their very name, baranka or baranok, being a contraction of a word obvaranok, "scalded". They are also far harder than boobliks, thus requiring dipping them into tea or coffee before eating. Sushki are even smaller and drier type of baranki, generally couple of inches in size, and have a consistency of a hard cracker.

References

External links

* [http://www.cooking-book.ru/recepts/bake/bublik/ Bublik recipes (in Russian)]