Colombo’s Queen of bagels
A taste of home baking: Osk and her creations. Pix by Amila Gamage
Ósk Sturludóttir rummages around in her fridge while the bagels she slipped in earlier slowly turn golden in the oven. Her small kitchen is filled with the aroma of baking and when Ósk emerges it is with the ingredients for a feast – strawberries and cream, golden honey and smooth cream cheese flecked with chives. The bagels and the scones she pulls out of the oven are still warm. It’s a combination not easily resisted.
Somewhat to her surprise, Ósk has become Colombo’s unofficial bagel queen. She and her husband Lahiru Pathmalal run Island Bagels together, setting up a stall at the Good Market and taking orders via their Facebook page. The business began when Ósk – who also makes incredible cookies – realised her husband’s idea of an ideal breakfast was built around a bagel.
Having spent time in New York as a young girl, she knows what a bagel should taste like: “chewy and dense without being heavy,” she says, obviously contemplating the perfect bagel. If you’re a bagel person, you’ll know that distinctive texture comes from first boiling the dough before baking it. “There’s a malty flavour to them as well,” she adds. She’s confident declaring hers are made ‘NYC style’ and produces them only in small batches Her personal favourite is the poppy seed or cinnamon and raisin combination but her bestseller is clearly a reflection of local palates – a chilli version she calls Mili’s Miris bagels.
Originally from Iceland, Ósk is an anthropologist by training. Her professional interests have been diverse and include stints researching changing perceptions of national identity post the 2008 – 2011 financial crisis in Iceland and over a year working with Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem at the behest of the UN. Now running a small business in Sri Lanka is making for an interesting change in gear.
Ósk is slowly expanding her offerings, there are scones now and hopefully cookies to follow. “My idea is that I wanted to be as locally sourced as possible,” she says, adding, “I would like to scale it up.” Ideally, she’d like to start supplying restaurants and supermarkets in the near future, and when she does, she envisions a business with an employment policy that finds room for the disabled and the disadvantaged. “This is about finding different ways to apply my skills and my interests, and social responsibility is part of that. Business is a space where you can create opportunities for people who need them.”
Ósk and Lahiru are keeping this in mind as they build from the ground up, but in the meantime they have been pleasantly surprised by Colombo’s passion for bagels. On her menu they offer plain, sesame seed, whole wheat, cinnamon and raisin, Mili’s Miris bagels, onion bagels, and Everything bagels – the last, with their crumbly blankets of toasted seeds are particularly delicious.
She recommends eating them plain with cream cheese and sliced strawberries or simply toasting a whole wheat bagel and drizzling its porous surface with honey. Lahiru likes his with an olive tapenade and ham. Like any bread, your toppings are only as limited as your imagination. Also, don’t forget to ask for the monthly special – for January it’s atta flour and pumpkin seed bagels.
If you’d like to order, do so a day in advance. The bagels are priced at Rs.150, with six costing Rs.800. You can contact Ósk through Facebook (www.facebook.com/IslandBagels) or find her bagels at the Good Market as well as the Good Market stall on Saturdays.