Why is the white bread in Ireland so dire?

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699026#Comment_121699026

Baked goods are very expensive.

My local Spar has locally produced cakes and pies, I think some bread too.

The small amount I have tried is truly brilliant, but the price is a tad off putting.

I can throw half a kg of flour into a bowl and have a loaf for 50 cent plus the gas for the oven even going down the expensive Odlums route.

It would pain me to pay supermarket prices.

I used to buy Lidl bread, it was good and inexpensive, it probably still is, I just kind of got used to doing my own thing.

But yes' I recall buying those crusty batons for 63 cent, being critical, you had a wide variation in crustiness and colour, so the time in the oven or the temperature was iffy, but the soft flabby anemic looking ones could be left on the shelf for the not so "early birds".

ted1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699389#Comment_121699389

Spar is expensive. It’s a convenience store not a bakery or a supermarket

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699403#Comment_121699403

Thanks, it's the only one available on a day to day basis, so I don't get to track prices in Dunnes or Supervalue.

Frankly I use Lidl or Aldi in town, I buy by price first and then if I find that acceptable worry about the detail. If I find the quality or price of a product not to my liking, I'll look for an alternative source of calories.

Dunnes sourdough is beyond what I would pay in my wildest dreams, so basically that one product programmed the "spam filter" for their baked goods anyway. I can't even recall the price, but it was eye watering.

Sourdough is just a shade cheaper to make than a normal loaf if you go by the materials and neglect the time input :-)

SharkMX

Whenever im in France there are always other people raving about the french bread and queuing up in the morning to get it. I dont notice it any different to the same types of bread in Ireland. Mass mental programming I think.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699504#Comment_121699504

Maybe they just can't get to Ireland and back while the coffee's brewing.

A good job if you ask me, they would add the price of language training on to the cost of the weeks shopping bill :-)

TinyMuffin

Racist thread all coming out against white bread. Brown ain’t so great either.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699598#Comment_121699598

BROWN LOAVES MATTER!

Don't ever forget it!

Grayson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696581#Comment_121696581

I really miss Brennans. Compared to regular sliced bread here in germany it's amazing. Germans love bakeries. I have a friend here who used to live in Ireland and said a german high street is like an irish one except they replaced all the pubs with bakeries.

But if you wander into a supermarket and want to buy a sliced pan, the bread is terrible. They're great at bakery type stuff and terrible at supermarket type stuff.

Slightly Kwackers

Prowess at baking and prowess at brewing goes hand in hand.

I found the Dinkleacker before the bread, I stopped searching for any other form of sustainance after the Dinkleacker, Bread was surplus to requirements :-)

In extreme moments I would utter Brot and Wurst at the counter of a place near the pub, it wasn't a bakery but provided stodge.

It's comforting to know that all that's needed to support life in Germany are a few euro and the words brot, wurst and Dinkleacker.

AlanG

I would think the main reason is because we have great Brown Bread and most of the countries you mention have practically none. Even supermarket Brown here is far superior to most of the white offerings throughout Europe so anyone who wants decent bread here has better options.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699504#Comment_121699504

What are you comparing... the bread on the supermarket shelves, the bread in in-store bakeries, or bread from actual bakeries? Or the lot?

The bread on the supermarket shelves I think ours is better. In store bakeries about the same. From actual bakeries I would say France wins not on quality but price for that quality and that there's way more such bakeries than here.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698778#Comment_121698778

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121698716#Comment_121698716

Amazing info on a niche subject. It's like peak era Mastermind specialist subject. "Cheese production in 1600s Ireland" 🤣

But genuinely thanks.

Bobson Dugnutt

I’ve started making brown bread. It’s very easy to prepare and bake. Foolproof. Economical as well.

Can’t beat a slice of it still slightly warm with a heart attack inducing amount of butter on it.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700100#Comment_121700100

The true test of good bread is when it can be eat with nothing but oil or butter.

I do love soda bread with something like St. Tola and jam but just with butter can be magic at times.

RetroEncabulator

It depends on the bakery in France. Some are excellent, some are mediocre.

The French tackled the ability to industrialise bread the opposite way to the anglophone countries. Instead of rolling out giant centralised commercial bakeries, they invented the baguette, which allowed bakers to mass produce at a small scale local level, as it cooks extremely quickly using a steam oven process. It's not just baked. The narrow shape, means it cooks very very fast too, compared to a big loaf. That's why it's that shape.

I think though the gap between Irish bakeries and French bakeries closed a lot. If you went there in the 1980s the gap was enormous. If you go there now, the bread is good but it's nothing you can't get here or in the UK or anywhere else as there's a lot of artisan bakery going on here now too.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700156#Comment_121700156

Spot on!

I never ate bread and butter or bread and olive oil before baking it myself.

That is very profound, I never put it into words, but can wholeheartedly agree with your statement!

You should sell the phrase to the Odlums marketing department :-)

noodler

Too broad a statement to be applied in a meaningful way for me.

White sliced pan in a packet on a shelve? Not my thing but is it any worse than the equivalent on the continent?

When it comes to supermarkets own bakeries the quality varies here. I think Lidl's bakery is smashing. Supervalu quite good also.

I don't frequent bespoke bakeries enough to say anything meaningful on that tho.

I'll never understand the criticism of cuisine de France rolls/baguettes, as long as they are fresh (as in recently enough cooked from frozen), then I think it's quite nice crusty roll and I bemoan the reduction of those types of rolls in recent years.

banie01

My opinion on Irish bread is that in the main, mass produced white loads are just that. Industrially produced homogeneous and bland.

Irish bakery loads, the white bread batch, cottage and baps are good, all very much dependant on the baker.

My view of Spanish bread having lived there for 4yrs or so. Whilst bimbo is a great name to take the piss with? It's mass produced white loaf is absolutely minging.

Where Spain and Europe do have a big difference is the amount of bakeries who basically do a milk round for bread. Dropping some pan and pastelsria off each morning. To your door freshly baked.

I have never seen similar in Ireland other than bakeries delivering buns and such to other retailers. The disappearance of bread bakers from our streets and their move to industrial production has slipped our notice.

The cost of ingredients and energy must mean that quite a large amount must be baked now to ensure a % margin on volume rather than per item basis.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700427#Comment_121700427

"The disappearance of bread bakers from our streets and their move to industrial production has slipped our notice"

It had but there is a big movement linked to quality food in general that has been changing that. I can think of plenty of places in Limerick where I can get good bread outside of going to a supermarket.

Astartes

I remember getting bread from a vending machine in Florence one night after a feed of wine. It was easily the best bread I've ever tasted. 5 small baps that were still warm I couldn't believe it.

As for here yeah the mass produced stuff isn't great but it's definitely getting better in regards artisanal bakeries in larger towns. Also SuperValu do nice bread if you're early enough

banie01

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700501#Comment_121700501

True, we are lucky enough in Limerick to have some good options. The French lad on Henry St is particularly good IMO. People (me included) need to get back into the habit of buying bread somewhere other than the supermarket.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700545#Comment_121700545

I can never make it to that guy in time after work but glad to hear he is making a success of it.

Rift, O'Connor's butcher and Eats of Eden (quality name) all stock Sunflower bakery. Then you have the more traditional O'Connors bakery, Ban a Ti and Danes. Even my local petrol station have a good stock from some spot out the county.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697077#Comment_121697077

I'm pretty sure it's about the bread pal!

Read all the threads above, it's all about bread, different makes, various bakeries, home made recipes, where to go in the country to get decent bread...

acequion

Some people get very touchy when we criticise anything on the aul home sod and accuse us of having a rant. We'll be accused of racism next for having a go at Irish bread!

I haven't read every post, it's a thread that has really taken off, but I agree with the OP. Being a bread lover, I've yet to find rolls or baguettes as tasty as I've found in France and Spain. Not denying we won't find a few genuine bakers dotted around the place, but alas I haven't found them near me.

The local supermarket where I go in southern Spain [Consum] have their own bakery where they do mouth watering baguettes, rolls and other delicious pastries. Much better than anything in the bakeries of Dunnes and Super Value, in my humble opinion.

Another issue for me is the impossibility of finding fresh, crusty bread here after about 6PM. So annoying!! In France or Spain, you might get a notion to throw together a nice pasta supper on a summer's evening. You just pop out to the shop [even 24 hour supermarkets bake their own] and voila, plenty of recently baked, mouth watering loaves, still warm. Here, forget it!

maninasia

The food culture in general is 5x better in those countries...it's just the way it is.

From seafood to bakeries to wine and salads and cheeses and smoked meats...stop I'm making myself hungry.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700880#Comment_121700880

Out of curiosity how long have you lived in Spain. Things have gotten much better here and supermarkets have their own bakeries too.

It's not at Spain/France levels of availability and I certainly agree about the after 6 thing but it's ot the doom and gloom some are making out

acequion

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700966#Comment_121700966

I live here in Ireland [am Irish], not in Spain. But I spend long periods of each summer in Spain and am often in France too. Which is why I feel I'm in a position to compare and that's how I see it.

mrslancaster

White sliced pan or batch loaf from the supermarket here is far better than the same products in the UK or some other EU countries IMO. A lot of different UK bread is sold by M&S here and it is dreadful, tastes like cardboard. From what others posted, it sounds like it's made the same way as the USA stuff because it lasts for weeks, probably filled with all kinds of preservatives.

Irish home made white and brown soda bread is delicious but it's not always practical to bake loaves of bread at home. Much quicker to make griddle bread - we make it at weekends and it's stove-top to table in about 15 minitues. Yummy with just good butter or with a bit of honey or homemade jam, and equally good with a fry for breakfast. Much nicer than a hard crusty brittle baguette or an air-filled croissant that sheds flakes all over the place. For something sweet, it's hard to beat a good Irish scone fresh from the oven. Spread with home made clotted cream and raspberry or blackcurrant jam - nothing nicer.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121700544#Comment_121700544

After a couple of bottles of Chaeuneuf I could fish a half eaten kebab around a week old from the wastepaper bin and believe I had found the ultimate goal in cookery.

Did you try any without priming the plumbing with booze first :-)

Rubberchikken

I could basically live on Tesco plain white sliced. I toast it for breakfast and make the odd sandwich. Hasn't killed me yet😁

Was pleasantly surprised to find a small corner shop in Florence, similar to our central/spar, selling fresh sourdough loaves at a very reasonable price each evening well after 7. Never seen that here.

It was lovely bread and not the overpriced sourdough they have in our local shops.