The Great Bagel Debate: Montreal v. NYC | Endless Simmer

A little over a month ago I ventured to theFAR NORTHwith my new hubbie (Romeo).  That’s right folks, I’m talking about Canada.  We spent a little under a week in Montreal, an exceedingly charming city full of appealing, beautiful, smiling, amiable people who seemed to do almost everything better than theirsouthern neighbors.

Our luggage arrived at baggage claim within mere seconds of us exiting the secure area and public transportation was far-advanced and gloriously easy to understand. The city was thoroughly walkable and every neighborhood left us gasping at its beauty. Nearly everyone was bilingual yet didn’t look down on us for our inability to speak French. Thefood courtswere full of healthy food: fresh and delicious and diverse. The more upscale dining joints were completely comfortable withmy food limitationsand whipped up thoroughly decadent dishes.

Everything was beautiful, perfect and French Canadian. I was in love.

I was eager to try one particular morsel of Montreal cuisine that I had heard about from all the Canucks I’ve ever known: The Montreal bagel.

Every Canuck I’ve come across has sung the praises of the Montreal bagel, asserting its clear superiority over the New York bagel.  As it was hard for me, the daughter of a New York Jew, to imagine any way of improving on a genuine New York bagel (far easier to improve on the piss-poor excuse for bagels we tend to encounter in DC), I couldn’t wait to try this mythic culinary invention.

Would the Montreal bagel stand up to my expectations? And what’s the difference between a Montreal bagel and a NYC bagel anyway? Answers after the jump….

Montreal Bagel from St. V's

“That’s no bagel,” I told Romeo reflexively after my first bite of my first Montreal bagel.  I was disappointed.  I expected a bagel, but better.  Instead the Montreal bagel seemed to me to be the anorexic, atrophied cousin of a sesame seed New York bagel.

It had none of the chewiness, none of the rich contrast of textures I expect from a perfectly toasted New York bagel (you know: the pillowy, doughy, chewy inside juxtaposed with the tougher crustier exterior).  I was confused:  Perhaps I was simply surprised because there isso muchMontrealers have to feel rightfully superior about that it was odd to me that they seized on something so obviously inferior….

It wasn’t that I disliked the Montreal bagel. It just wasn’t abagel.It was closer to a bagel-shaped, sesame seeded, oven-toasted baguette.  And Canadian folks don’t tend to serve the bagel with cream cheese, or at least that isn’t the go-to topping of choice.  Butter seems to be the preferred condiment, jam a close second…. Not that I can eat cream cheese, but still….

Another disappointment– whole wheat bagels are hard to find.  In fact it was very difficult to find a Montreal Bagel not made with“enriched” white flourcovered with sesame seeds.  They don’t really do the million-different bagel flavors thing like we do south of the border. (AlthoughFairmont Bakeryhas apparently begun offering bagels in flavored varieties, they are frowned upon for doing so by Montreal bagel traditionalists, like the owner of a superb establishment in Montreal,Beauty’s Diner.)

Maybe it’s a metaphor for the difference between U.S. Nationals and Canadian Nationals?  You know: We’re fatter and more diverse demographically, and so too are our bagels.

Despite all these deficiencies Montreal natives (and most Canucks I know) are extremely proud of what they consider a superior Canadian product.  In December the Montreal Gazette publishedan articlecontesting the findings of a New York Times taste test in which New Yorkers reportedly found Montreal bagels“totally bland.”  Said the Montreal Gazette:

Well, we at The Gazette beg to differ. Been there, done that. In our head-to-head tasting with N.Y. bagels back in 2000, the Montreal specimens won out….There’s nothing quite so perfect as a Montreal bagel.

I get it I guess… You love what you know.  Bagels for me have always been the ultimate comfort food and I was completely discomfited by the bagel shaped object masquerading as one of my favorite filling breakfast foods.

Montreal bagels differ from New York bagels in several important ways.  First of all Montreal bagels are always baked in awood-fired oven.  The holes are larger, the bagel is skinnier and flatter, and the taste is drier and slightly sweeter. Apparently Montreal bagel bakers do not use salt as do their New Yorker counterparts in the recipe. The Montreal bagel also contains sugar and is boiled inhoney-sweetened waterbefore baking in the wood-fired oven.  Thesaltin the New York bagel and the baking after boiling in astandard ovenapparently allows the New York bagel to retain more moisture and for the dough to rise more during the baking process.

The result: New York bagel ispuffy and proud, while the Montreal bagel issmaller, drier and crisper.  Think about the difference between the crusts on pizzas baked in a wood brick oven and those baked in a traditional oven and you’ll get the idea.

Anyway, the Montreal Bagel is worth a try, just to see what all the hype is about.  You can order them online from either of the two famous bagel sellers in Montreal (Montreal natives argue over which has better bagels): TheFairmont Bagel BakeryandSt. Viateur Bagel.  While Fairmont offers the bagels in Sesame, Plain, Poppy Seed as well as other varieties,  St. Viateur is more appealing to the Montreal bagel purists as they only offer their bagels in Sesame and Poppy Seed.  For NYC Bagel lovers, just don’t expect a real bagel when you try it and you won’t be as disappointed as I was!

I like to think of myself as a fair sort at any rate, and I wonder what you all think of this bagel controversy.  Which bagel is more beguiling for you?

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Yellow Gazpacho | Endless Simmer

So JoeHoya totally stole my Part II thunder.

With my extreme abundance of tomatoes over the weekend, I made two go-to tomato recipes simultaneously:tomato sauceand gazpacho. Of course it was an obvious way to turn almost rotting tomatoes into something edible,as Joe Hoya pointed out.

And he’s right. Gazpacho is uniformly delicious but not uniformly similar in ingredients. In fact, tomatoes aren’t even aconstantin somerecipes.

As I rummaged through the tomatoes I noticed that a good half were yellow and the rest were a mix of red, purple, orange and green. I reserved the yellow for the gazpacho while I used the other colors for my maroon colored sauce.

Yellow Gazpacho

Roughly chop about 3 pounds ofyellow tomatoes, non-rotting parts only. Immersion blend the following: yellow tomatoes, peeled, de-seeded and slicedcucumber, choppedHungarian Stuffing Peppers(carries a bit of heat, way more flavorful than a green bell pepper and they are in light in color to match the yellow tomatoes),oil, white wine vinegar, saltandwhite pepper.

Cracked black pepper, to me, is one of the most attractive finishes to a dish. But for some reason I became really interested in preserving the pale yellow color of the cold soup. Cue the white pepper.

For color, however, I sliced in halfsugar baby tomatoes. At least that is what I think that variety of tomato is called: they are slightly larger than sun golds, have a red exterior with white zig zag lines on the skin.

Also for some texture there are a fewcroutons, half floating on the surface. I simply cubed left over bread, tossed it withkosher salt, freshly cracked pepperandoiland placed it in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes.

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Top Chef Exit Interview: Episode 8 | Endless Simmer

It only took 8 episodes for the producers of Top Chef to show some true love to DC. Not only did they focus on our fascination with Ethiopian food, they also sent a hefty $10K donation over toDC Central Kitchen, in the name of José Andrés. I tip my hat to you, Bravo.

Keep reading for what this week’s loser has to say.

ES: What was your strategy when you came onto the show? Did you even have one?

Stephen Hopcraft:My strategy on the show was to be myself, that was the first thing. I wanted to really portray who I was and to treat the people I came into contact with with respect. Cook from the heart, really put out food that I loved and what I thought people would love.

You appeared to be this season’s comedian, is that something you were trying to achieve?

My personality is not conceived. I am who I am. The more I get pushed into a corner or the more nervous I get my personality and humor come out even more. That being said do I think people would like that; I think I’m a cool guy.

We saw Angelo put the plastic wrap over the toilet, were there many pranks played at the house or was that an anomaly?

I don’t know what anomaly means– but first of all, yeah I was really hammered so I didn’t want to pee on the toilet seat so I sat down and my nuts hit the plastic wrap. Angelo is hilarious, we went back and forth on a bunch of different things, basically lightening up the scene.

When you pulled Brazil do you think it put you at a disadvantage? If you drew the 1st knife what country would you have chosen and what would you have made?

I don’t think the country Brazil put anyone at a certain advantage or disadvantage, but I do think my absence of knowledge on the cuisine of Brazil put me at a huge disadvantage.  If I had drawn the 1st knife I would have chosen Spain and would have done some type of crudo, some type of raw fish maybe with some of the flavors of Spain- definitely toward a cold dish.

There was some doubt of your rice and how you were going to make it hot, even Kenny mentioned it. Did you think about that?

Kenny, the awesome chef and sportsman, confronted me on that. He was like“Bro, how are you gonna plan on heating that up tomorrow?” I could tell by his quizzing that he though it was a bad idea… I appreciated that very much. I think a big part of being a chef is to check your ego. You go out and buy your knives and then you learn how to cook. I know my ego was like, ah fuck– I can heat this rice up, don’t you worry, Steve-o.

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Finally, Pants Fit for a Food Blogger | Endless Simmer

We get a lot of pointless press releases here at ES, mostly forridiculous unitaskersthat we would never recommend. But once in a blue moon, we here about something that is just pure genius. This is one of those moments.

‘Tis a problem as old as the savage feast— you eat too much and your belly blasts the button right off your pants.  In the past, gluttons safeguarded themselves by undoing their trousers before appetizers or by dining in elastic sweats, togas or mumus. At long last, there’s a stylish solution. San Francisco pantmaker betabrand.com teamed up with legendary chef Chris Cosentino, proprietor of Incanto (a restaurant where folks can dine on whole hogs’ heads), to createtrousers for gluttons.

Yes, it’s a pair of pants that fits normally, but then allows you to expand your waist size to one of three different girths, depending on just how much of a glutton you’ve decided to be that night. I can’t tell you how many times I have wished this existed.

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Fried Zucchini Blossom Recipe | Endless Simmer

Around this time of year, foodies start spying one of our favorite finds at the farmers markets: zucchini blossoms. These are the pretty yellow flowers that grow above the root of the zucchini plant, and can be harvested to eat before the main squash part is fully grown. Actually, I’m pretty sure that these are kind of likegarlic scapes— a part of the plant farmers used to just throw away before they realized they could sell them to us sustainability saps at a premium.

I spotted these guys at my local far mar a few weeks back and loved that they still had the teeny tiny squash part attached. The flowers themselves have a pretty delicate flavor. I know this sounds obvious, but I’m gonna go ahead and say they taste a little bit like a zucchini, a little bit like a flower. After some exploring the Internet, I found that most people go the same route with these— stuffing, breading and frying. Hey, who am I to argue with that?

The most common stuffing ingredient is cheese, and since I had some nice, meltable gruyere in the fridge, I went with that, stuffing a few blossoms with just cheese and a few others with cheese and green garlic. But I also wanted to see how the flower-y taste worked with a more dessert-y flavor, so I also stuffed a few blossoms with blueberries.

First things first, you want to make sure to comb the insides of these babies carefully. I say this because inside one of my blossoms I found a rather unappetizing sight— a dead bee. Makes sense when you remember this is the inside of a flower, but still, you don’t want to eat that.

The stuffing part is relatively easy— just put a bit of whatever you’re going with inside, then fold the flowers up to enclose. Holding the blossoms closed, dip‘em in egg, then breadcrumbs, then fry up for a few minutes in oil.

They’re like fried flower lollypops! And the blueberry ones were actually my favorite. If I could make these a little cleaner and more uniform (it was tough to get the breading to stick evenly) I think they’d be a pretty fun and impressive party snack.

I’m wondering— what else have you ESers stuffed inside zucchini flowers? Any experience using them another way than the good‘ol stuffing-and-frying?

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Eating on the Edge: City Island | Endless Simmer

Endless Simmer’s NYC-based tasting team is bypassing the cutesy outer borough neighborhoods and taking the subway to the end of the line, then getting on a bus and taking that to the end of the line, then seeing what we can find to eat.

This week’s destination—City Island— is seriously the edge-edge-edge of New York City. It’s kind of like an adorable New England fishing village, except it’s actually in The Bronx, retains just a smidge of that New York City grime, and you can get there on the MTA bus. Take the 6 train all the way to the end of the line, then hop on the Bx29 bus, which takes you across a bridge onto this amazing little island where they’ll deep-fry anything that swims. Just hope this fish isn’ttoolocal.

Since we came this far, we figured we might as well go all the way to the water’s edge, whereTony’s Pieroffers lunch at picnic tables right on the sound. As you can see, inside NYC or not, they’ve got pretty much the whole nine yards when it comes to summer-y fried seafood. Yes, even frog’s legs, which I’m pretty sure I disapprove of eating anywhere outside of Paris, but definitely in The Bronx.

Instead I went with the pretty perfect fried clam strips meal. Most excitedly, it turns out Tony’s has pioneered a new form of serving a five-course meal. I call it the slow reveal. This looks like just a giant pile of fried clams, with a super-sad side salad thrown in for good measure, right? Wrong!

Eat a couple of clams and you find out there’s a whole package hidden under there— it turns out to be a pretty decent mayo-y cole slaw.

Take a couple more bites and you see they’ve hidden some fries in there, too.

For good measure, that’s a juicy pickle hanging out at the bottom of it all— not placed on top for a crisp start, but underneath everything so it soaks up all the associated greasiness before you even get to it. Yum. What a fun way to eat!

And yep, those are saltines on the side, for all of you who were worried there weren’t enoughcarbspresent in this meal. I’m really not sure what you’re supposed to do with those, as there is no hidden chowder anywhere. Break them up and crumble them on top of your clams? At this point I’m thinking they might have just thrown in everything lying around their kitchen.

Since that clearly wasn’t enough food, we ordered up a platter of seriously gigantic oysters. On the side, that’s a $5 pina colada in a plastic cup. We visited in the afternoon, but I’m told City Island gets pretty crazy on Saturday nights— no surprise, as that PC was about 75-percent rum.

Tony’s vegetarian option

I can’t say yet how Tony’s Pier measures up to the other fried seafood options in City Island (Johnny’s Reef— right next door— gets good reviews), but for an out-of-NYC experience without actually leaving NYC, City Island is totally worth the trek.

Previously:Eating on the Edge: Howard Beach

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Fried Eggs and Potato Chips | Endless Simmer

Without a doubt potato chips are my favorite snack food. Cheese (extremely sharp cheddar) is next and a combination of a plate ofHerr’sRipples with cheddar, spicy mustard and a pickle is my ultimate combo. With all this love, however, I’ve never incorporated chips into my cooking. (Though I  always wanted to tryHerr’s Potato Chip Cookie.)

This was until I saw DC food writerMonica Bhide tweetabout chips in an Indian-spiced egg dish. Holy Crap! How have I never thought of combining my two favorite things to eat. Finally! My love for salty crunch and creamy egg can be together at last! And because I nowwork from home full timeI decided to try this out last week for lunch.

Egg Over Green Chili Potato Chips

Because I cooked this on the fly I didn’t have all of Monica’s set ingredients, which you cancheck out at her site. Here’s how I handledthe situation.

In a small cast iron pan heat up a combination ofoilandbutterand add a small dicedonion. Stir in something hot. I used a spicygreen chilli pastethat BS brought me back from Mauritius. Add in chopped parsley and then a handful or two of crushedpotato chips. Stir everything together and then sweep away the chip mixture to create a small hole. Add a tiny bit more butter into the hole and then carefully crack theegg. Sprinkle with water to create steam and cover with tin foil. After a few minutes, when the whites are set a slight film has formed over the yolk, remover the chips and egg from the pan and top withsaltandpepper.

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