Homemade Montreal Style Bagels

Montreal style bagels are somewhat different from the bagels we know in America; they’re slightly smaller, thinner, sweeter, and have a markedly crusty exterior.

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I’m a New Yorker; bagels are a staple in my life, and no one can tell me that New York City doesn’t make the best ones in the world (it is definitely the water here that makes them so good). But if any place has a bagel that can rival those of my hometown, it is Montreal. And I’m not mad about it, because a Montreal style bagel is really different from the ones most of us know. Montreal bagels are thinner and sweeter, with a super crusty exterior and an interior that’s errs on the side of cakey rather than doughy. The hallmarks of the Montreal bagel are that they must be:

WHAT SETS MONTREAL STYLE BAGELS APART

If you’ve never made bagels before, you might not know that the yeasty dough is boiled before it’s baked. This locks in a fluffy interior while ensuring a crusty outside. And while is may sound more complicated and time consuming, this pre-boil actually is actually pretty easy. Using honey in the water is what gives Montreal style bagels their signature sweetness. They are also always hand rolled and formed rather than punched out with a cutter, allowing for an irregular shape that creates a variety of textures in once baked.

Their extra cracky crust comes from being baked in a woof fired oven, another attribute that sets these bagels apart. While at some point I plan to attempt this recipe in my dad’s wood fried pizza oven, you can achieve this crust with the use of a preheated pizza stone or cast iron cooking vessel (I used a cast iron griddle). And if you’re really true to tradition, its black and white: poppy seeds and sesame seeds only. But don’t feel constrained. I chose to top with sesame seeds as well as everything bagel spice (because my boyfriend loves it). Don’t forget to completely dredge the bagels in the seeds after boiling; an abundance of seeds is another thing that gives these bagels their signature style.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES

Bagels are a staple of Jewish culture here in New York, and it’s the same in Montreal. In both cities, Jewish immigrants from Poland and Easter Europe brought in and popularized the bagel. The particular region in Poland the immigrant bakers came from is responsible for the differing styles of Montreal and New York bagels. Of course I grew up with mostly the New York style. I would get them with my dad sometimes in the morning when he would walk me to school, and in 6th grade, when I was first allowed to leave school for lunch, my very first meal was a bagel with cream cheese.

Are from Sunday brunch at my grandmother’s house. She always sets out a huge spread of them with cream cheese, lox, tomatoes, onion, cold-cuts and various cheeses.On these Sundays we mostly had New York bagels, but every once in a while we had an extra special brunch with Montreal style ones. You see, my grandma (Nana) spent the first 17 years of her life in Montreal. Every time she would go back for a visit, she would buy sleeves of Montreal bagels and freeze them so that she could share with everyone back home. I’ve never actually been to Montreal, so I’ve never had them fresh, but even the frozen ones were a treat.

I called Nana recently to find out about some of her childhood memories of Montreal bagels. But unlike my strong memories, she funnily enough didn’t have any. She said she mostly remembers eating rye bread – tomato sandwiches on rye bread – and thought maybe they didn’t have enough money to afford bagels. But Montreal bagels became a huge part of her life anyway, and now my life.