Obwarzanek Krakowski

An obwarzanek krakowski is a braided ring-shaped bread that is boiled and sprinkled with salt and sesame or poppy seeds before being baked. It has a white, sweetish, moist and chewy crumb underneath a crunchy golden-brown crust. Traditionally sold from street carts, it is a popular snack in the Polish city of Kraków, where it has the status of a regional food with protected geographical indication. It is closely related to, but distinct from, bagels, bubliks and pretzels. The term obwarzanek krakowski is Polish. The Polish noun obwarzanek, or obarzanek, derives from the verb obwarzać, "to parboil", which refers to the distinctive technique of boiling the dough before baking. The adjective krakowski denotes anything coming from or related to the city of Kraków. An obwarzanek krakowski is a ring-shaped baked product with a hole in the middle. It takes the form of an oval or, seldom, a circle. Its surface is formed by strands of dough, round or oval in cross-section, twisted into a spiral. The colour ranges from light golden to light brown, with a distinct sheen. A typical obwarzanek is 12–17 centimetres (5–7 in) in diameter, 2–4 cm (0.8–1.6 in) thick, and weighs 80–120 grams (3–4 oz).

Source: Wikipedia