Between the sixth and ninth century, Arabs secured control of the entire southern Mediterranean coastline. In 652 AD, an Arab fleet defeated the Byzantine navy off the coast of Alexandria and established bases for their incursions into the Italian mainland and Sicily. In 841 AD, the Arabs conquered Bari on the Adriatic coast and, from there, took control of the Alpine passes connecting Italy with the rest of Western Europe, ultimately creating an empire in southern Italy that lasted about 200 years.
Bari became the Arabs’ principal stronghold, a base from which they not only influenced regional cuisine, but also the cuisine of the areas all along their expansive trade routes. Unsurprisingly, the Puglia region, of which Bari is the capital and from where Queen Bona Sforz of Poland hailed, happens to be the Italian home to tarallo, a boiled then baked ring-shaped bread.
In addition to this clue to where the ring-shaped bread might have entered the Polish kitchen, it’s relevant to note that rye was historically the dominant grain/flour in eastern Europe. And yet, the Polish obwarzanek was made from wheat flour, a grain native to the Eastern Mediterranean, which archeological evidence indicates was probably first cultivated in the southern Levant. From other records, we know Arabs were responsible for spreading wheat to areas they traded with or conquered during the expansion of their empire.
