At the beginning of this month I received an invitation from Jasmine, The Cardamom Addict to take part in a blogging event that she was co-hosting with The Domestic Goddess: Mmm…Canada.

The Mmmm…Canada event is being held to coincide with Canada Day, July 1st, and being a proud Canuck, I jumped at the chance to participate. The Cardamom Addict would be taking submissions for savoury treats while The Domestic Goddess would be handling all things sweet. The name of the game is to present something either sweet or savoury that is quintessentially Canadian. I decided to do both.

First up, something savoury.

The first order of business was to brainstorm about Canadian cuisine, ruminate about all the good foods that I grew up with. I thought of a million and one delicious possibilities to be sure before finally deciding on the Montreal Bagel. With that decision made it was time to find the right recipe. With a little looking around online I found a very respectable recipe for the Montreal Bagel in the New York Times of all places. It was actually somewhat of an ode to the Montreal Bagel – the recipe is accompanied by a great article about the Montreal Bagel’s history.

There is a history of friendly (and not so friendly) competition between the New York Bagel and the Montreal Bagel. The Times article points out that a Montreal Bagel is essentially made like the New York bagels of old – they have a shared history, made in the tradition of the Old Country from whence their makers came before settling in the New World.

A Montreal Bagel is the kind of bagel I really love. It is soft and chewy on the inside, with a delightful hint of sweetness that makes it irresistible and downright difficult to stop at one – so it’s a good thing that they are traditionally made on the small side. Well, they’re smallish when compared to their usually swollen, often gargantuan modern day counterparts.

I recently discovered that I absolutely love working with dough, so I set about the task of making these bagels with glee. This was despite the fact that I had never made bagels, or anything remotely resembling bagels or their bread cousins, before. The first step would be to make the appropriate substitutions since I would be making a vegan version – flax meal with water plus plain soy yogurt in place of the eggs and, if not using honey, agave syrup. I also increased the yeast (I recently learned that it is advisable to increase your leavening agent when omitting eggs). My adapted recipe looks like this:

Montreal Bagels:

1 1/2 cups water, room temperature
2 packages + 1/2 tsp quick-rising, instant yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp flax meal
3 tbsp water
1/4 cup plain soy yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/3 cup + 1 tbsp agave syrup (or 1/2 cup honey)
5 cups bread flour, plus extra for dusting (all-purpose flour, alternatively)
3 quarts water for boiling (I filled my largest pot with 4-5 inches of water)
1/3 cup malted barley syrup (for the boiling water)
Sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling on top.

• In a small bowl, add the flax meal and 3 tbsp water and beat together until frothy, set aside.
• In a large bowl, blend the water, yeast, sugar and salt together. Stir in the oil and the agave syrup (or honey if using), add in the flax mixture and mix well.
• Add the flour and mix with a big wooden spoon until the dough is too stiff to mix by hand. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead to form a soft, pliable dough – about 5 to 7 minutes. Add a small bit more flour as needed to prevent dough from getting too sticky (don’t add too much though – just what you need to handle the dough relatively cleanly).

• When the dough is smooth and elastic, place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with seran wrap.
• Let the dough rest approximately 20 minutes. Punch it down and divide into 18 portions.
• Pour the water into a large pot, add 1/3 cup malted barley syrup to the water and heat until boiling. Cover, reduce heat and let simmer while preparing the bagels.
• Shape the dough portions into bagel-like rings by elongating each portion into an 8- to 10-inch coil that is about 3/4-inch thick. Fold the ends over each other and give them a pinch. Then using flattened fingers, roll the ring gently back and forth over the seal to join it well. This locks the ends together and prevents them from opening up when boiled. Let the bagels rest for 15 minutes on a non-stick surface – I used my lightly floured counter.

• Preheat oven to 425F degrees. Bring the water back to a boil and remove the lid. Have bowls of poppy seeds and sesame seeds nearby.

• When the water is boiling, using a slotted spoon, add three bagels to the water. As they rise to the surface, turn them over, and let them boil an additional minute before removing them and quickly dipping them in either bowl of the seeds. My bagels seemed to float immediately, so I let them cook for about 1-2 minutes before flipping them and cooking for an additional minute on the other side. Continue boiling and dipping the bagels in batches of three until all have been done.
• Arrange the boiled bagels on a baking sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper), and bake until they are medium brown, approximately 25 minutes. Be sure to keep and eye on them though, and check them often after the ten minute mark. When they’re done, remove them from the oven and place on cooling rack. Once cooled, the bagels can be placed in a plastic bag, sealed and frozen.
• Yield: 18 bagels. NOTE: If not using the dough immediately it should be refrigerated after it has been kneaded. The bagels can be cooked up to a day later. Allow the dough to return to room temperature before proceeding.

Apart from my vegan substitutions, my version also differs from the recipe I was following with respect to baking temperature. The version I was following called for a 450F oven and was very specific about putting the baking pan of bagels on the lowest possible rack of the oven. It also calls for a baking time of 25 minutes.

Well. Let me tell you something. With my first batch of bagels, and after only ten minutes in the oven under these conditions, there was a distinct odour of burn in the air. At first I thought that perhaps a crumb or two at the bottom of the oven might be the source. But a peak at the bagels revealed that the edge of one at the very corner was already dark brown. How odd, I thought. And after only 10 of 25 minutes. I removed the pan from the oven and was met with black-bottomed bagels. Bottom rack position, my hiney. So the oven temp was quickly reduced and the subsequent batches baked on the customary middle rack position. Success, finally.

Despite that initial odorous setback, the bagels turned out very nicely indeed. They were so yummy in fact that even the burnt bottomed ones would not go wasted – we cut the bottoms of those babies off and ate every last bit of them up. My husband took a few to work and shared some bites with his co-workers. He returned home with his fellows’ declarations that I ‘make good bread’ and (my personal favourite), ‘is there anything she can’t do.’

I’d say these worked out well. Happy (early) Canada Day!

Be sure to check back on July 1st and click on the Mmm…Canada picture at the top of the post so you can see the full roundup of Canadian savoury cuisine on the Cardamom Addict’s site.

Next up, Mmm…Canada, sweet edition.