Dish family
Ring bread
A ring bread is a bread shaped into a closed ring, or a twisted ring, from a rope of yeasted wheat dough. The shape travels with the dough: simit in Turkey, koulouri in Greece, ka'ak bil-Qudus in Jerusalem and the West Bank, covrigi in Romania and obwarzanek in Kraków are all rings of plain wheat dough, usually coated in sesame and sold warm from carts, stalls and bakeries as a street snack or breakfast.
The family divides on one step. Simit, koulouri, covrigi and ka'ak are baked; obwarzanek and the bagel are boiled briefly before baking, which gives a glossy, chewy crust. The bagel has Polish-Jewish roots, so it belongs here by lineage as well as by shape. Pretzels, doughnuts and sweet rings are not part of this family: the test is a savoury ring of plain bread dough. The table below compares the members on the facts the Food Wiki records for every dish.
Ring bread: 6 dishes — one dish family across several cuisines, compared side by side.
- 6
- dishes
- 6
- Other cuisines
Used in these dishes
How the dishes compare
| Dish in this family | Country | Cooking | Main ingredient | Allergens in the classic recipe | Energy per 100 g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bagel | United States | Boiled · Baked | Flour | Cereals (gluten) | 250 kcal |
| Covrigi | Romania | Baked | Flour | Cereals (gluten), Sesame Seeds | 290 kcal |
| Ka'ak bil-Qudus | Palestine | Baked | Flour | Cereals (gluten), Sesame Seeds | 312 kcal |
| Koulouri | Greece | Baked | Flour | Cereals (gluten), Sesame Seeds | 280 kcal |
| Obwarzanek krakowski | Poland | Boiled · Baked | Flour | Cereals (gluten), Sesame Seeds | 275 kcal |
| Simit | Türkiye | Baked | Flour | Cereals (gluten), Sesame Seeds | 300 kcal |
This describes the classic recipe, so you know what to ask about. It is not a declaration for any particular kitchen — recipes and suppliers vary, and only the restaurant can tell you what is in the dish it serves. Typical values per 100 g. Values are approximate and vary by recipe.