I am really sort of surprised someone hasn’t come up with the usual not so catchy name for it. Maybe Bagelgate, since every little scandal seems to end up as some sort of gate. But if you haven’t heard yet, holes have gone missing from some bagels.
The big deal is, it’s messing with tradition. Although the hole thing (pun intended) is really just a marketing stunt.
The people at Kraft Heinz, who make Philadelphia Cream Cheese, came up with the idea of having bagels made that are built to take more cream cheese. Your regular bagel, which had a hole in the middle, is limited in its capacity to hold cream cheese, because of the hole. Do away with the hole, and you can spread on more cream cheese.
So they asked four bakeries to start making bagels without holes. One in New York, one in Dallas, one in Seattle and one in Montreal. I’m not sure how people feel in New York, Dallas and Seattle, but there are some people in Montreal who were quite horrified.
Bagels are one of those things that Montreal is very proud of. And rightly so. They make a good bagel at most places in Montreal. It’s one of their things. Like smoked meat. If you go to Montreal, you almost HAVE to get a bagel and a smoked meat sandwich. And not just anywhere. There are specific places to get the best, depending on who you ask.
It’s like pizza in Naples or deep dish pizza in Chicago, a cheesesteak in Philadelphia, a po’ boy in New Orleans, waffles in Bruges, Belgium… even a beaver tail in Ottawa. Or a donair in Halifax. There are a lot of places that have foods associated with them. And the bagel is one of Montreal’s signature foods. So messing with it has people a little upset.
Many have pointed out, that a bagel without a hole is good, but it’s not a bagel. The name comes from an old German work meaning ring or bracelet. The hole is implied in the name. They were made that way on purpose. So vendors, many years ago, could put them on a stick to carry them around.
While I agree, it might be wrong to call them bagels, I kind of like the idea. Bagels without holes do allow for a lot more cream cheese. And it would be far easier to turn them into a sandwich.
They are probably a limited time item but I have to say I’m interested. I like bagels, so I can’t see the downside of more bagel. But Montreal is a long way to go just to not have a hole.