View source for Montreal-style bagel

{{Short description|Variety of bagel created by Jewish immigrants in Quebec}}
{{Infobox prepared food
| name            = Montreal-style bagel.
| image           = Bagels-Montreal-REAL.jpg
| image_size      = 250px
| caption         = [[Poppy seed]] (dark) and [[sesame seed]] (light) Montreal-style bagels
| alternate_name  =
| country         = [[Canada]]
| region          = [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]]
| creator         =
| course          =
| type            = [[Bagel]]
| served          =
| main_ingredient = Flour, [[malt]], [[Egg (food)|eggs]], [[honey]]
| variations      =
| calories        =
| other           =
}}
{{French Canadian cuisine}}
{{Canadian cuisine}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}

The '''Montreal-style bagel''' or '''Montreal bagel''' (sometimes '''beigel'''; {{langx|yi|בײגל|translit=beygl}};  {{langx|fr|Bagel de Montréal}}) is a distinctive variety of handmade and wood-fired baked [[bagel]]. In contrast to the [[New York-style bagel]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pegNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5015,495317&dq=sesame+bagel |title=Crusty Bran Bagels are an Ethnic Treat |access-date=February 6, 2009 |date=November 21, 1974 |work=St. Petersburg Times}}{{dead link|date=January 2015}}</ref> the Montreal bagel is smaller, thinner, sweeter, and denser, with a larger hole, and is always baked in a [[wood-fired oven]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Hamilton |first=Matthew |url=http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/A-few-things-to-do-in-Montreal-6415491.php |title=A few things to do in Montreal |publisher=Times Union |date=2015-07-31 |access-date=2017-10-09}}</ref> It contains [[malt]], [[egg (food)|egg]], and no salt, and is boiled in [[honey]]-sweetened water before being baked.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/life/2018/11/19/lloyd-squires-myers-bagels-burlington/1977013002/|title=A day in the life of Lloyd Squires, Vermont's 'best' bagel maker|last=Weiss|first=Evan|date=19 November 2018|work=Burlington Free Press|access-date=2018-11-29|language=en}}</ref>

In some [[Montreal]] establishments, bagels are still produced by hand and baked in full view of the patrons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=b3748ada-27b4-43db-a740-16fa6efffad2 |title=If you can't stand the heat, get into the kitchen |access-date=February 6, 2009 |last=Mennie |first=James |date=August 3, 2006 |work=The Montreal Gazette |publisher=Canwest News |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628192646/http://www2.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=b3748ada-27b4-43db-a740-16fa6efffad2 |archive-date=June 28, 2009 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> There are two predominant varieties: black seed ([[poppy seed]]) or white seed ([[sesame seed]]).

==History==
Montreal bagels, like the similarly shaped New York bagel, were brought to North America by Jewish immigrants from Poland and other Eastern European countries; the differences in texture and taste reflect the style of the particular area in Poland in which the immigrant bakers learned their trade. Minor controversy surrounds the question of who first brought the bagel to Montreal. They were (reportedly) first baked in Montreal by Chaim (Hyman) Seligman,{{When|date=February 2011}} as verified by Montreal historian Joe King,<ref>Joe King. ''Baron Byng to Bagels: Tales of Jewish Montreal''. Montreal. 2006 Pp. 42–43</ref> a historian of Montreal Jewry. Seligman first worked in the neighbourhood community of [[Lachine, Quebec|Lachine]] and later moved his bakery to the lane next door to [[Schwartz's]] Delicatessen on Boulevard St. Laurent in central Montreal. Seligman would string his bagels into dozens and patrol Jewish Main purveying his wares, originally with a pushcart, then a horse and wagon, and still later from a converted taxi. Seligman went into partnership with Myer Lewkowicz and with Jack Shlafman but fell out with both of them. Seligman and Lewkowicz founded the [[St-Viateur Bagel|St. Viateur Bagel Shop]] in 1957 and Shlafman established [[Fairmount Bagel]] in 1919,<ref>Fairmount Bagel, [http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/pgHist.htm History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130207210116/http://www.fairmountbagel.com/eng/pgHist.htm |date=February 7, 2013 }} (accessdate 2012-09-21)</ref> which both still exist in the present day.

==Dissemination==
A substantial proportion of Montreal's English-speaking Jewish community gradually left for other locales. Catering to this population, Montreal-style bagel shops have opened in [[Dartmouth, Nova Scotia]], [[Vancouver]], [[Ottawa]], [[Toronto]], [[Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton]],<ref>[http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=ab5ba842-96a5-4c56-ab61-40647612ee8c "Bagel lovers, the Abominable Doughnut Must Not Stand"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090628223929/http://www.canada.com/cityguides/montreal/story.html?id=ab5ba842-96a5-4c56-ab61-40647612ee8c |date=June 28, 2009 }}, Canada.com</ref> [[Calgary]], [[Winnipeg]], [[Whitehorse]], and other Canadian cities. They have even spread to the UK and some US cities, such as [[Burlington, Vermont|Burlington]], [[Houston]], [[Los Angeles]], [[Oakland, California|Oakland]], [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]]{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}}, and [[Seattle]]. For a time, this style of bagel was almost completely unknown in the northeastern U.S., mainly due to the proximity of the rival New York City bagel.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/09/27/where_1_million_bagels_is_just_another_day_at_office/ |title=Where 1 million bagels is just another day at office |access-date=February 6, 2009 |last=Bushnell |first=David |date=September 27, 2007 |work=The Boston Globe}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NfsNAAAAIBAJ&pg=6762,2045727&dq=bagel |title=Business Better |access-date=February 6, 2009 |last=Hewitt |first=Jean |date=April 24, 1969 |work=The St. Petersburg Times}}</ref> (with one exception having been in [[Burlington, Vermont]], where Myer's Bagels boasts a Montreal-style wood-fired oven and Lloyd Squires, a former [[St-Viateur Bagel|St-Viateur Bagel Shop]] baker).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.7dvt.com/2006/hole-truth |title=The Hole Truth: Vermont's bagel bakers answer the roll call |publisher=Seven Days |date=October 17, 2006 |access-date=June 9, 2011 |author=Horowitz, Ruth}}</ref> At one point in New York City there were two Montreal-style bagel locations in the borough of Brooklyn within four blocks of each other, but one is now closed and the other no longer offers Montreal-style bagels.{{Citation needed|date=February 2021}}

Montreal-style bagels are currently the only style of bagel known to have ventured into space. [[Gregory Chamitoff]], who grew up in Montreal, took three bags of sesame bagels with him on his assignments to [[STS-124]] as passenger and ISS [[Expedition 17]] as crewmember.<ref>CTV.ca, [https://www.ctvnews.ca/montreal-born-astronaut-brings-bagels-into-space-1.299619 "Montreal-born astronaut brings bagels into space"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080602184347/http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080601/montreal_space_bagels_080601/20080601?hub=TopStories |date=June 2, 2008 }}, Jun. 1 2008</ref><ref>Irwin Block, [http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6924c3b3-a4e3-4c05-b279-025fc9650627 "Here's proof: Montreal bagels are out of this world"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080604161249/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6924c3b3-a4e3-4c05-b279-025fc9650627 |date=June 4, 2008 }}, ''The Gazette'' (Montreal), Tuesday June 3, 2008, Section A, Page A2</ref>

[[File:Fairmount Bagels Loaf.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Fairmount Bagel – A loaf of bagel dough that is ready to be rolled and prepared]]

==Production==
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2021}}
Montreal-style bagels are, for the most part, manufactured by the same [[Bagel#Preparation and preservation|method used to produce a generic bagel]].
The Montreal-style method of making bagels builds on the basic traditional method in the following ways:
* The basic bagel dough recipe includes egg and honey.
* Honey is also added to the water used for poaching the bagels before baking.
* The authentic Montreal-style bagels are baked in a wood-fired oven.

==Notable bagel shops==
Several Montreal bagel factories produce authentic Montreal-style bagels. [[St-Viateur Bagel]], at 263 Avenue St-Viateur Ouest, and [[Fairmount Bagel]], at 74 Avenue Fairmount West, are two notable bagel shops in Montreal.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.frommers.com/destinations/montreal/0018020003.html |title=Montreal: Introduction: Best Dining Bets |year=2009|publisher=Frommer's Montreal and Quebec City 2009}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8681796.stm |title=The bagel war of Montreal |access-date=June 22, 2010 |last=Beck |first=Katie |date=June 22, 2010|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> Both claim to be the oldest bagel shop in the city.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=A little bit of our history - St-Viateur Bagel|url=http://www.stviateurbagel.com/en|access-date=2021-02-03|website=www.stviateurbagel.com|language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Food}}
{{div col|colwidth=23em}}
* [[Cuisine of Quebec]]
* [[Bublik]]
* [[Donald Bell (writer)|Donald Bell]]
* [[Kettleman's Bagel Co.]]
* [[Mile End, Montreal]]
* [[Montreal-style smoked meat]]
* [[Urban culture]] 
{{div col end}}

==References==

{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* {{cite news |first=Ami |last=Albernaz |title=Battle of the bagels |url=http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/1105/p17s01-lifo.html?page=1 |work=The Christian Science Monitor|date=November 5, 2008 |access-date=November 9, 2008}}
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20071209100328/http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/story.html?id=06ce51e5-ff9b-4628-8259-4f32bc1e1749 No shocker that Montreal bagels won...."] ''Montreal Gazette''.
* "[https://web.archive.org/web/20080517050232/http://www.bootsnall.com/namericatravelguides/montreal/feb02bagel.shtml Montreal Bagels – are they the Best in the World?"] Bootsnall Travel.

{{Jewish baked goods}}
{{Ring and knot-shaped breads}}

[[Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Montreal]]
[[Category:Bagels]]
[[Category:Jewish breads]]
[[Category:Jewish baked goods]]
[[Category:Yeast breads]]
[[Category:Montreal cuisine]]
[[Category:Cuisine of Quebec]]
[[Category:Jewish Canadian cuisine]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism in Montreal]]