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A short video still featuring a woman with blonde hair and a text overlay that reads “Things I prefer in the US as a German” with American and German flag emojis, and further states “I don’t know why we don’t have bagels in Germany.”
Above this, the social media post caption reads “I can think of a reason!” The post is from “Vikram Bath @vikrambath.bsky.social.”
I recently, as a lifelong montrealer, spent a few days in Manhattan and tried the bagels. Montreal bagels have this kind of faint aroma you get from the honey in the dough that I just didn’t find in New York bagels, the flavor of the new York bagels was much closer to bread but the texture was great. Also, maybe a New Yorker could answer this, but were they always so big with almost no hole or is that a development from them being used for sandwiches?
I read they use a malt syrup in NY instead of honey when they boil them, I’ve always wanted to try making them that way.
The recipes I’ve followed ask for some malt extract in the boiling water. There’s a definite difference in taste and texture, and while I recommend it, most places that sell the extract sell huge jars of it, so you’ll want to make a lot of bagels to get it used up…
Ah! That goes to show how our local experience shapes our definition of things. Is the malt syrup or honey more traditional (I’m guessing honey but you never know)?
I never had a bagel on my trips to Britain but, at least when my dad was growing up in the 30s and 40s (and an adult there in the 50s), he said British bagels tasted somewhat different from American ones and had a very different texture.