Places, Traditions and Discoveries · Drawing 18 of 40
Montréal bagels
Bagels are part of Montréal’s food traditions. Jewish bakers from Eastern Europe brought them to the city. The dough is shaped into rings, dipped in boiling water, then baked in a wood-fired oven.
Look together
Can you draw a big ring in the air?
An idea to try
Roll modelling dough into a rope and join its ends to make a ring. Compare it with a flattened ball.
For the adult reading along
A little more to discover
Bagels are part of Montréal’s Jewish culinary heritage. The Montreal Jewish Museum presents them among the foods that tell this history, passed on by generations of bakers and families. St-Viateur bakery, founded in 1957, describes bagels rolled by hand and baked in a wood-fired oven. This is one example of Montréal craftsmanship among the businesses and people who prepare this ring-shaped bread.
The drawing focuses on shaping: a length of dough becomes a closed form with a hole in the centre. Invite your child to follow the outline with a finger. Compare a ring with a solid disc and ask what would need to change to turn one into the other. No food preparation is needed.
Sources and illustration notes (2)
An imagined bakery and bagels, without signs or a reproduction of a particular shop’s interior.
These links lead to other websites. Explore them with an adult. References identify the institution and the related lesson; some linked pages are in French.
- St-Viateur Bagel — Notre histoireFondation en 1957, façonnage à la main et cuisson au four à bois décrits par la boulangerie.
- Musée du Montréal juif — Au-delà du bagelBagels parmi les spécialités du patrimoine culinaire juif de Montréal; ne prétend pas établir une date unique d’invention.
Source review: 2026-09-19. Illustrations simplify places and scenes; they are not historical documents.
