Montreal-style bagel

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,Joe King. Baron Byng to Bagels: Tales of Jewish Montreal. Montreal. 2006 Pp. 42–43 a historian of Montreal Jewry. Seligman first worked in the neighbourhood community of 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 Shop in 1957 and Shlafman established Fairmount Bagel in 1919,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) which both still exist in the present day.

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,[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 Calgary, Winnipeg, Whitehorse, and other Canadian, cities. They have even spread to the UK and some US cities, such as Burlington, Houston, Los Angeles, Oakland, 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.{{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}}{{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}} (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 Shop baker).{{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}} 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.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 2008Irwin 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

File:Fairmount Bagels Loaf.jpg

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Montreal-style bagels are, for the most part, manufactured by the same 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.

Several Montreal bagel factories produce authentic Montreal-style bagels. St-Viateur Bagel, at 263 av. St-Viateur Ouest, and Fairmount Bagel, at 74 Avenue Fairmount West are two notable bagel shops in Montreal.{{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}}{{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}} Both claim to be the oldest bagel shop in the city.{{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}}

{{Portal|Food}}

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• Cuisine of Quebec
• Bublik
• Donald Bell
• Kettleman's Bagel Co.
• Mile End, Montreal
• Montreal-style smoked meat
• Urban culture

{{div col end}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{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.

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Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Montreal

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