- I know this is going to be controversial,
because you New Yorkers out there think that you're
the only city in the world that makes bagels.
But that is not true.
Montreal is a proud, fierce home
of its own slightly different style of bagel,
and we are going to try those out,
so we can compare the two right now.
Where do you get the best bagels in the entire world?
- I think you can get them here in Montreal,
at St-Viateur Bagel.
- St-Viateur's Bagels.
- St-Viateur, 100%.
- Definitely, bagels, St-Viateur.
- St-Viateur.
- I'm partial to St-Viateur.
- When I asked, where do you go
to get the quintessential Montreal bagel,
everyone I asked said, you have to go St-Viateur,
so we're about to go in.
I'm gonna try one of their signature sesame bagels.
I might even get a bagel making lesson from the owner.
I'm super excited, so let's go.
(upbeat music)
When we talk about bagel culture,
what are the main differences that you would see
between a New York City style bagel
and a Montreal style bagel?
- New York has been making bagels longer than Montreal.
So they're definitely up there.
The difference is that they mass produce,
and in order to mass produce,
you can't do wood burning boiled.
You gotta go into more machine made,
proofed and conventional oven,
so that the bagel is different.
It's much larger, fluffier, and for the most part,
never gets flipped, so one side will be flat.
So there's differences,
but primarily, we do not mass manufacture.
Everything's very artisanal in Montreal.
- They're all handmade.
- Hand rolled.
- All baked in the wood oven.
- And our proofing is boiling.
It's really the process that we've stayed true to
that defines this bagel.
Basic step one, getting the dough right is essential.
Malt flour, eggs, sugar, yeast, oil, and water.
- Simple. - Simple.
Then the dough gets taken out onto the rolling table.
So it all starts with the left hand.
This is what I want it to look like.
So once we have the snake,
roll it around your wrist.
- [Lucas] Roll it around.
- Yes, and with your thumb, break the dough and connect it.
And then just press and roll the air out.
One, two, and boom!
- [Lucas] Boom.
- Now we're gonna count 44 bagels,
and we're gonna put them into the kettle,
into the boiling honey water.
You ready?
Throw a bit of flour,
and we're gonna count.
We're gonna throw, your bagel is gonna go in there, okay?
- Yes! - Here it goes.
And in it goes with special care, your bagel.
The bagels, they come out wet,
so what we do is because they're hot and boiled,
it allows for the sesame seeds to stick.
- [Lucas] Okay.
- [Robert] Our Montreal bagel is covered in sesame seed.
Also, part of our secret, yeah.
Some people they put not a lot of sesame seed.
- [Lucas] Just a few, sprinkle 'em, yeah.
- When you just put a little, it's not cool.
- [Lucas] Don't be stingy with the sesame.
- And we put them on boards,
and they go into our wood fired oven,
and close to the oven is where the heat is,
so it dries the seed.
- [Lucas] And that honey water give it that,
just that little touch of--
- That sweetness from that golden glaze from the wood
is unbeatable.
- Delicious.
How many bagels can you crank out in a day?
- This location will do about a thousand dozen a day.
On a 24 hour workday.
- 24 hours?
- St-Viateur Bagels, 24/7, seven days a week.
- That door doesn't lock.
- It doesn't have a key.
- [Lucas] It doesn't even?
- There's no key.
- That's great.
(upbeat music)
Mm.
Look at how overflowing and caked in sesame seeds these are.
I'm gonna break this baby open.
It's still hot.
I hope you're ready for this.
Catch the steam coming off of that bage,
that stretchy dough.
(crunching)
Absolutely coated in sesame seeds,
light, vaguely sweet.
Different than a New York style bagel.
New York bagels, as far as I understand,
a little bit of sourdough in it.
These bagels have that malt flour.
They're gonna be a little bit lighter,
a little bit sweeter.
They're gonna have a little bit of a crust on the outside,
that almost resembles the crust of a loaf of bread.
The hole in these bagels are bigger.
New York bagel is gonna be like a dense little guy.
Sometimes you can't even see the hole.
You know, it's like a belly button.
The main taste difference is that the bagel is lighter,
the bagel is sweeter.
From being boiled in that honey water,
it gives it just a little light, sweet flavor,
and it's got that nice crust on the outside.
Now this is the All Dressed, aka, Everything bagel,
and so this is not gonna be hot out of the oven,
so it's not steaming like that one.
As it's had time to settle,
it does become a little bit chewier.
It still maintains that lightness, that sweetness
that the New York City bagels don't really have.
The sesame's where it's at, though.
90, 95 percent of the bagels they sell
are gonna be the sesame.
(upbeat music)
You can definitely enjoy a bagel with cream cheese.
Cream cheese is delicious.
Who doesn't like cream cheese,
and I don't need to explain to you
what a bagel and cream cheese tastes like.
But I am of the opinion a strong bagel
should stand up on its own.
A good bagel should not need cream cheese.
Of course, you can put cream cheese, lox,
capers, tomato, red onion,
whatever the hell you want onto a bagel.
Smoked meat, if you're in Montreal,
but a good bagel doesn't really need anything.
You should be able to eat it on its own,
and it should be delicious,
and that is what this is.
It's tough to say what's better.
I mean, if I said Montreal bagels
were better than New York bagels,
I couldn't show my face in New York ever again,
but I could definitely see a circumstance
where I would prefer a Montreal bagel.
I really hope you enjoyed this episode of Dining on a Dime
from St-Viateur, in Mile End, in Montreal, Canada.
If you'd like to watch more, please click here.
(upbeat music)