a hard bread roll in the shape of a ring 百吉圈（硬面包） CultureBagels are cooked first in water and then baked. Bagels first became popular in New York as a type of Jewish bread. They are often eaten there with cream cheese (= soft white cheese containing a lot of cream) and smoked salmon (= fish with pink flesh).Topics Foodb2Word Originearly 20th cent. (as beigel): from Yiddish beygel.