Many have not had the pleasure of tasting a Montreal-style bagel. That is, a wood-fired bagel, typically smaller than a New York-style bagel (a good thing imo) and slightly sweeter from the addition of honey, hand made and rolled, but baked in a pizza-style wood burning oven.
I was lucky enough to visit Boise, Idaho, and I found a gem of a place that makes an excellent Montreal-style bagel: Good Times Bagels.
This place is a basic bagel shop. There wasn’t a proud display of hundreds of bagels. Just measured quantities of goodness coming out of the wood-fired oven. Oh, and stacks of fire wood!
I ordered an onion and an everything, not toasted, plain cream cheese. This is how they were served to me.
I’m not going to complain much, but you know how I roll: put a generous schmear on it, don’t be shy, wrap it up in bakery paper and slice it in half as it should be. I don’t ask for much, right?
Nonetheless, I reassembled and here’s what it was. Feast on this everything bagel.
And the onion.
Notice the slight char. That and the wood smoke added a unique element to the flavor. I’m convinced it would be fine baked in a regular oven but this put it over the top.
The skin had a noticeable crunch, the bagel was moist inside with just the right amount of chewy pull. The size was perfect. I would like to see more toppings on them, but I wasn’t missing anything. The aroma was to die for, a sorta yeasty-smokey-sweet thing.
If you get a chance to try a Montreal-style bagel, don’t pass it up. If you happen to be in Boise, you know where to go!
The Baker's Dad 