Bread – simple, unfussy and utterly delicious – is one of Ireland’s food heroes. Whether it’s wheaten bread, soda bread, barmbrack or potato bread, or the new and different breads emerging in cafés and bakeries across the land, bread and the art of bread making is ingrained in the food culture of the island of Ireland.
For now while we stay home, you can experience traditional Irish breadmaking from your own kitchen. Follow our videos where Tracey of Tracey's Farmhouse Kitchen and Catherine Fulvio of Ballyknocken House & Cookery School showcase their methods of making traditional Irish soda bread.
Tracey's Farmhouse Kitchen is an eighteenth-century thatched barn on the spectacular shores of Strangford Lough in County Down is as beautiful inside as the stunning landscapes that surround it, and among the unique hands-on activities available is the chance to take a traditional Irish bread-making course in Tracey’s cosy kitchen.
“These breads are all griddle breads and are ready to eat within 12 minutes of placing the dough on the griddle. It’s all very relaxed – we don’t weigh or measure anything – it’s a handful of this and a glug of that,” says Tracey. Check out Tracey's guide to her traditional Northern Irish soda bread below.