Rivals in Montreal’s Bagel Wars unite to fight for their ovens

In today’s Big Story podcast, the Montreal bagel is woven into the fabric of the city’s cultural and religious history. Two proprietors in particular are at the heart of it all. Fairmount and St-Viateur have each been selling these bagels forever.

These family businesses each make their product in a way unique to the city, and they’re famous for it. They do it using huge wood burning ovens, right in the middle of residential neighbourhoods. And in the era of environmental awareness, you might guess where this is going. This has led the often bitter rivals to team up in a quest to preserve what they say is a piece of the city’s heritage.

GUEST: Dan Bilefsky, New York Times’ Canada correspondent, based in Montreal

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