Fairmount Bagels

Personal preference would dictate the actual best bagels in the world, but it’s safe to say that Montreal bakeries have been conjuring amongst the best since the early 1900’s. A debate has been sparked in recent years of what constitutes a Montreal bagel due to other cities claiming to serve “Montreal style bagels”. The Hamilton/Montreal bagel controversy over the last couple of months is a prime example of this. Previous to that, Montreal bagels also went toe to toe with those from Toronto, and guess who came out on top?

It is clear that the best place to get a Montreal style bagel is, of course, in Montreal. But where in Montreal?

The rivalry seems to continue between two top contenders, St. Viateur and Fairmount, both conveniently located on streets who share the same names. St. Viateur’s bagels, typically regarded as the apex of Montreal bagels, featured in our supermarkets and delis with “We serve St. Viateur bagels here!” signs, were only chosen as the favorite from one of six judges in the aforementioned Toronto/Montreal bagel taste test. The other five votes belong to Fairmount, who in my opinion generate the best bagels this city has to offer.

Montreal bagels are characteristically defined by their hand-made, often irregularly and inconsistently shaped dough, which is then boiled in honey water and baked in a wood fire oven. The result is a flavor imparted lightly with sweetness and smoke, a crisp exterior and dense, chewy interior. This is then rolled in poppy seeds, sesame seeds or both.

Why Fairmount - which some consider blasphemous for offering non-traditional flavors - is clearly the reigning champion is because of a single non-traditional creation: the bozo bagel. The bozo bagel takes everything wonderful about a Montreal bagel and multiples it. The bagel doubles in size, twisting together a poppy seed and sesame seed bagel, to become a meal in itself. It becomes an even chewier, even more flavorful bagel, and making all other bagels, even other Fairmount creations, pale in comparison.

A fresh bozo bagel is like manna. Clearly, what Fairmount has done with the bozo bagel is God’s work. On it’s own, it is perfect - and with the addition of some cream cheese and lox, it is heavenly. My own personal preference is for Liberté cream cheese, available at Fairmount, which is created locally, the old-fashioned way, and easily spreadable with a plastic spoon. If you find yourself in the neighborhood, at any hour of the day, do yourself a favor and try the bozo bagel, or any of the other dozens of bagels offered by Fairmount - from their whole-grain selections to their more blasphemous creations.