Montreal-style bagels come out sweet and chewy
Recipe is just one of a collection of local dishes from across the country
Canadian food is so much more than poutine and Nanaimo bars.
Friends Lindsay Anderson and Dana Vanveller discovered this while on a cross-country road trip in 2013, sampling local specialties in all 10 provinces and three territories — from whale blubber in Nunavut to wild boar and fig meatballs in Saskatchewan to giant lobster rolls in New Brunswick.
Collecting recipes (and stories) from local chefs along the way, the two documented their culinary adventure on their award-winning blog “Feast: an edible road trip,” which, of course, planted the seeds for a cookbook. The book Feast: Recipes & Stories From a Canadian Road Trip sorts its recipes into nine categories including vegetarian, meat and seafood mains, snacks and drinks.
Each recipe comes with a short story about where the dish is from and the chef who made it. It also comes with a helpful “alternative ingredients” guide in case you can’t track something down — birch syrup, for example, can be swapped for a 1:1mix of maple syrup and molasses. The quote “It’s true that no one dish represents every last part of Canada, but how could it, and why would we want it to? Canada is huge! There are simply too many cultures and kilometres to find one convenient answer, and that’s OK — it’s a complicated country.
“But there is such a thing as Canadi- an food, and it’s broad and diverse and so, so compelling.” The tester I’m super down for road trips but, more importantly in this case, super down for baking.
I’ve used recipes for “New Yorkstyle” bagels before, so trying out a Montreal-style recipe, in which the bagels are slightly sweet, didn’t seem too daunting a task. That and I really, really like bread. Recipes I’m dying to make Beaton’s Mac & Cheese looks like fat-and-carb heaven, the Arctic Apple Fritters look a million times better than anything you’d get at a doughnut shop and Moroccan Chickpea Soup or Beet Borscht would be perfect on a dreary spring day.
Montreal-Style Bagels
Star Tested Montreal-style bagels traditionally have a sweet taste — you can cut back on sugar by 1 or 2 tablespoons if you prefer. The original recipe also says to let the dough rise for 30 minutes, which gives the dense, chewy texture Montreal bagels are known for.
I let my dough rise for an hour, making the bagels a little fluffier.
A stand mixer is helpful but not necessary for this recipe. If you don’t have one, you can use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to stir. I found mixing the wet ingredients easier to do by hand with a fork, but you can also use the paddle or whisk attachment of your stand mixer. 1-1/2 cups (375 mL) warm water 1 tbsp (15 mL) active dry yeast 5 tbsp (75 mL) white sugar 3 tbsp (45 mL) vegetable oil, plus extra for coating dough 2 tbsp (30 mL) maple syrup 1 egg, beaten 4 cups (1 L) all-purpose flour, plus extra for sprinkling 1-1/2 tsp (7 mL) salt 12 cups (3 L) water, for boiling 1/3 cup (80 mL) honey Sesame and poppy seeds for garnish In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl, combine water and yeast and let sit for about 5 minutes, or until mixture begins to foam (meaning yeast is active).
Add in sugar, oil, maple syrup and egg and stir until sugar has dissolved.
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine flour and salt. Stir until well-mixed.
With dough hook attachment on lowest speed, stir large bowl, adding flour-salt mixture one cup at a time, leaving about 30 seconds between each cup. Using a spatula, scrape down any flour that sticks to the sides. Continue stirring until dough is sticky and consistent in colour without visible streaks of flour.
On a lightly floured countertop, place dough and sprinkle about 1tea- spoon flour on top. Knead dough for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary but don’t overdo it — dough should be sticky but pull away from hands and countertop easily. Shape dough into a ball and set aside.
In a medium-sized bowl, add 1/2 teaspoon oil. Roll dough ball in bowl until covered. Cover bowl with damp tea towel or plastic wrap and let dough rise for one hour, or until it doubles in size.
When dough is nearly ready, in a large pot over high heat, add water and honey and bring to boil.
Preheat your oven to 425 F (220 C) with one rack at top and another on bottom. Punch down dough, place on counter and divide it into 12 equal portions. Roll each portion into roughly 8-inch-long (25 cm) rope, then bring ends together, rolling ends until they stick together, forming a loop.
Using a large slotted spoon, place bagels gently one at a time into boiling water. Cook three or four at a time. Do not let bagels overlap. Boil for 90 seconds, flipping bagels halfway. Remove with the spoon and place on cooling rack.
Let bagels cool about 5 minutes. Coat with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.
On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat, place bagels about 1/2 inch (1 cm) apart. Place on the top rack in oven. Bake for 10 minutes. Flip bagels and place sheet onto bottom oven rack. Continue baking until tops are golden-brown, about 5 to 10 minutes.
Remove bagels from oven, transfer to cooling rack and let sit 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Bagels can also be stored for several days in a zip-lock bag; allow to cool fully before bagging. Enjoy with cream cheese and smoked salmon, tomatoes, avocado and/or capers.
Makes 12 servings.