Growing for the Factsheet Future

Local Breads Bread is one of the staple foods in Northern Ireland. We eat it every day and we eat so much that it makes up a large portion of our diet. Bread contains carbohydrate, which supplies energy for the body. Bread is easy to store and we eat it throughout the year.

We can make bread from two ingredients, flour and water, and when we bake this mixture it produces a flatbread (unleavened). To produce bread that has risen (leavened), we need to add a raising agent such as yeast or baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) to the mixture.

Around the world, each country has its main staple foods. Some are breads and others are foods like rice, pasta, potatoes and beans.

Here are some breads that we eat in Northern Ireland.

Potato Bread Potato bread is sometimes called potato farl, which comes from the old Scots word ‘fardel’ meaning quarter or fourth part, because of how it is formed. It can also be called fadge or slim, depending on where you are in the country. As the name says, it contains potatoes and in Ireland more potatoes can be grown per acre than any other crop.

Potatoes are a very economical food and we can cook them in different ways, such as roasted, boiled, mashed or chipped. The peelings can be used as animal feed. Potatoes have been a staple food in Irish diets since the sixteenth century.

In the nineteenth century, potatoes were added to bread dough to reduce the amount of flour that was needed. This saved money as flour, particularly white flour, was very expensive.

Today, we usually eat potato bread as part of an Ulster Fry. You can also eat it heated and topped with butter and jam. In certain areas of the country, it’s also stuffed with an apple filling. Soda Bread In 1845, things started to change. The Great Famine killed at least one million people and another million emigrated from Ireland. This was as a result of the blight that attacked the potato crop, which meant that the food everyone depended on was gone from their diet.

People had to use other food sources available to them to survive. Baking soda was also brought to Ireland at this time. Baking soda is a raising agent that reacts with the acid in the buttermilk and makes the soda bread rise. It was cooked on a griddle over an open peat fire and today it’s still cooked on a griddle or frying pan. Soda bread was eaten as part of the main meal and used to mop up the gravy juices.

Soda bread is easy and cheap to make. You can make it with either white or brown flour. It sometimes has other ingredients added to it, such as raisins, apples, treacle, bacon or cheese. In Northern Ireland, soda bread is formed into farls (cut into quarters), but in the Republic of Ireland it’s shaped like a cake.

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In Northern Ireland, soda bread made with wholemeal flour is more commonly known as wheaten bread. It’s also referred to as brown soda bread. It’s shaped either as a farl, cake or loaf. Each family had their own special recipe that was handed down through the generations, with some adding salt and sugar.

Like potato bread, soda bread is included as a part of an Ulster Fry. You can also eat it just freshly baked with butter, or toasted. Veda Veda is only made and sold in Northern Ireland. It’s thought that the recipe came from Scotland. A farmer’s wife used damp wheat that had sprouted to form malted wheat when she was baking. This produced the unique malted flavour and caramel coloured loaf.

It’s a sweeter bread that’s usually toasted and topped with butter and jam. Everyone has their own favourite way of eating Veda. It’s often found in the suitcases of people that are visiting friends living away from home. Barmbrack Barmbrack is a softer, sweeter bread that contains raisins or sultanas and some spice. It is available all year round.

The name barmbrack comes from the Irish ‘báirín breac’, meaning speckled loaf. It’s also known as Irish tea cake. Barmbrack is usually eaten with a cup of tea or as a snack. Belfast Bap Barney Hughes, originally from Armagh, created the Belfast bap during the famine in the 1840s. He modified the recipe to make sure it was affordable for people during one of the most difficult times in Irish history.

Here are some activities you could try. • Carry out a sensory analysis of a variety of breads. Wear a blindfold and taste, touch and smell the breads. Then describe the breads using words from the British Nutrition Foundation’s sensory vocabulary poster, available at www.foodafactoflife.org.uk • Find out if there are traditional recipes for bread in your local area. Maybe an older relative or neighbour has a special recipe for wheaten bread or another type of bread. Have a go at following the recipe and then compare the taste of the homemade version with a shop-bought equivalent. Compare your findings with the rest of the class. • Research breads that are associated with other countries around the world. Find these countries on a map of the world. Discuss how advances in communication and technology have an impact on the food choices we have today.

You can find more resources and activities on the Great Famine and bread in the Curriculum Resources for February and September on the Growing for the Future website.

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