9 Bagel Bits to Nosh On

Finding a great bagel in the Hamptons is a worthy pursuit. We take our bagels seriously here on the East End—along with our bagel history and facts, so Here are nine tasty bagel trivia bits to chew on. Now pass the lox.

•It’s been estimated that 10 million bagels a day are sold in the United States.

•The International Bakers Union, a union expressly for bagel makers, formed in 1907. To keep the art of bagel making secret, only sons of union members could be apprenticed.

•The first mention of bagels in print came in 1610 in the Community Regulations of Krakow, Poland, which stated that “bagels would be given as a gift to any woman in childbirth.”

•Cream cheese was invented in 1872. We’re not sure how bagels survived those hundreds of years without it.

•A bagel is the only bread product that is boiled before it is baked.

•According to National Collegiate Athletic Association rules, schools may provide their student-athletes “fruit, nuts and bagels.” But no toppings for those bagels. The Big East Conference has petitioned the NCAA to allow free “butter, peanut butter, jelly and cream cheese” to go with the free bagels. Good to know higher education has its priorities straight.

•About 4 percent of people eat their bagel with nothing on it. (Obviously not many of them play in the Big East.)

•Astronaut Gregory Chamitoff became the first person to take bagels into space when his 18 sesame bagels tagged along on his 2008 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. No plain? No poppy? Houston, we have a problem…

•Bagel in Yeshivish also means sleeping for a period of 12 straight hours. Perhaps the aftereffect of eating too many bagels?

“Bagel Bits to Nosh On” is brought to you by Goldberg’s Famous Deli & Bagels in Westhampton Beach. You can nosh with them at 65 Main Street, Westhampton Beach, or online at goldbergsfamous.com.