Image courtesy of Magalie L’Abbé

Dish of the Week: Montreal-style bagels

Most folks are familiar with New York-style bagels, which tend to be on the denser side. But Montreal-style bagels are, in my opinion, where it’s really at. They are a little more crisp on the outside, and amazingly light with a lovely hint of sweetness on the inside. So I was naturally really excited to read that Mark Furstenburg (of Breadline fame) will be introducing Montreal-style bagels as well as other street snacks to D.C. in the form of G Street Food.

The style requires that the dough that contain malt and sugar, and be boiled in a mixture of water and honey. Then it is put into a wood-burning oven. Most are usually then heavily dosed with sesame or poppy seeds. New York bagels have dough that contains salt and malt, which is boiled in just water and put in a conventional oven. The sweet ingredients and wood-burning oven impart the best aspects of the Montreal bagel: crispness and sweetness.

Unfortunately, most of us probably aren’t planning trips to Montreal any time soon, but you can try this recipe from Tasting Menu, which details more of history behind the introductions of bagels to North America.