Why is the white bread in Ireland so dire?

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121701358#Comment_121701358

If "white bread" as the OP mentioned means sliced pan then Ireland easily has the best.

In terms of great bread I have had way better in France but usually baguettes, rustique or levain. I have never had "white bread" in France or Spain except the horrid stuff like the Bimbo mentioned above.

mrslancaster

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121701423#Comment_121701423

Lest anyone thinks you were referring to me as a Bimbo (not that I would qualify now as one needs to be in their 20's I believe) 🤣🤣🤣🤣

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bimbo_Bakeries_USA#:~:text=9%20External%20links-,Name,has%20no%20corollary%20in%20Spanish.

Slightly Kwackers

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

Well soda bread has come up several times in the thread and to me anyway that is the Irish bread. No one has had a bad word to say about it and if you are happy with what you already have, why try to beat the French an Germans by making a product to match their taste, not yours?

I would always go for soda bread rather than a sliced pan, but I would no more go shopping for soda bread than I would for ready made tea or coffee.

Sticking the stuff down Ones orifice might seem like the only purpose to buying bread, but it's just a small part of the bigger picture. You get out what you put in and bread is a living thing, even though soda bread "lives by proxy", but who's prejudiced :-)

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121697946#Comment_121697946

You wouldn't have a reference or title would you, I would be fascinated to see what the food industry expects me to process and drop into the Twyfords.

The Twyfords was expensive, I like to treat it with care :-)

road_high

I remember in Kilkenny there was a fairly strong local bakery industry- Mulhalls, Crottys, Bradburys, Keoghs….when I was a kid in the 80s/90s- all gone now or retreated back to neighbouring towns. They had their own local bread and loafs. The supermarkets really destroyed this aspect of Irish food culture.

Superquinn had a great bakery themselves but sadly Musgraves destroyed that also.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702191#Comment_121702191

No the people destroyed this aspect and many other aspects of food culture. Even now when Dunnes and the likes sell good bread people want the shte stuff.

jetsonx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121702367#Comment_121702367

I've had experience of this lately.

SuperValu did two versions of their own-brand muesli. One fairly natural tasting. The other version - laced with sugar. Guess which one SuperValu took off the market? Sometimes its the public which dictate what's on the shelves...

John arse

Just a bad batch?🤔

jetsonx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121696833#Comment_121696833

Thank you for the historical context to this problem. I hardly guessed this problem had historical roots...

That's a really interesting back story.

jetsonx

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

Another excellent post.

When you think about it, this island out in the periphery of Europe with a temperate climate with relatively good conditions for farming should have a culinary tradition to match any continental country. Yet, somehow, we don't. And your post goes a good way into explaining why not. Thanks.

jetsonx

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699382#Comment_121699382

Ok, so just to give you an example. If I pick a random Dublin satellite town like Celbridge and type in "bakery" into Google - nothing comes up except a cafe that sells brown bread and scones.

And this is the reason why I mentioned supermarkets in the original post. Bakeries, certainly in and around the Dublin area seem very thin on the ground.

kowloonkev

The reason I don't go to local bakeries for bread is that I wouldn't trust them as much. I'd have to test a lot of different breads (potentially) before I find the right mix of healthy and tasty, and even then I don't think they'd be tested as much for hygiene and the ingredients may not be as readily available. I would definitely be paying more and the product may not be as consistent or dependable. They wouldn't have as much in stock so I might have to go without or try something else. The bakery might even go out of business.

It's more convenient to go to a supermarket where you can almost guarantee the product you want will be there.

These are just the reasons why I think most people just buy off the shelf at a supermarket. Quality is not necessarily the most important factor. Consistency and convenience are important. We don't want to have to think about bread.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121703659#Comment_121703659

Oh dear, what a pile of contradictions.

That's quite a tome for someone "not wanting to think about bread".

As far as hygene goes, you have obviously never seen a supermarket customer ignore the tongs and press their fingers into every loaf and roll in sight in search of the shangri la of oven spring. What those fingers were doing in the hour or two prior is probably not something to dwell on.

I would have more confidence in the benefits of the bread than I would some of the heavily processed refined foods sold. Hygene isn't important with those. no self respecting bacteria would touch such delicacies as cut price sausages and battered chicken I'm sure.

I have yet to hear of a death by sliced pan, although I believe salmonella from eggs and chicken or botulism from canned goods is not unknown.

You really need to think about bread. The fact that it's so common does not mean it's not a fascinating medium.

I dragged a sourdough out of the freezer earlier, intending to use it as part of a meal.

The meal turned into toast and fruit.

Buttered toast and I didn't bother with any other addition. It really was too nice, too flavoursome to add any other item.

Bread can be really outstanding with little effort.

kowloonkev

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121703678#Comment_121703678

If you start a post with oh dear it's quite wankerish just to let you know.

I'm talking about the subconscious reasons why I and most people would go for a sliced pan from a supermarket as opposed to an independent bakery.

It doesn't mean I'm putting a lot of thought into it everyday you understand, so don't assume that just because it gives you a reason to suggest I'm contradicting myself.

Rubberchikken

Im not a fan of seeing the unwrapped bread and rolls in our local supermarket. Too many times I've spotted adults poking through them looking for the elusive perfect pan. Other times kids wandering about gladhanding everything they see.

Doesn't inspire.

It actually turns my stomach to think of someone who had been smoking before entering the shop, or picking their nose, as so many people seem fond of doing while driving, popping in and poking through the loaves. Yuk.

I'll stick with my sliced wrapped and hope to god whoever dealt with it in some factory followed some hygiene rules.

And what I don't see doesn't tend to bother me🥴☺️

Sgt Hartman

My local Dunnes Stores usually has Stafford’s white sliced cottage loaf in stock. It’s really good and far superior to any of the mainstream bread out there. At €3 a loaf it’s not too pricey either.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121703683#Comment_121703683

Sorry, you didn't explain that you were on "autopilot".

The "oh dear" is merely having some sympathy for your cutting yourself off from an excellent source of bread. Not many are lucky enough to have a dedicated bakery available.

The recorded death rate from eating "contaminated" bread in the west is pretty negligible.

The Egyptians ended up with no teeth due to their flour grinding techniques, but that apart, you are more at risk from the milk and bacon than the mornings toast.

So if your sole reasons for not supporting a local bakery is that of hygene and food safety. then I do have sympathy and you are fully deserving of an "oh dear" even if you don't appreciate it.

odyssey06

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121703754#Comment_121703754

Stafford's is good stuff and in Dublin at least seems to be widely available, not just in supermarkets. Although in smaller stores they may only have some of the range.

65535

It's the flour - imported from Britain as we know from Brexit.

To find the worst though you could try Sainsbury's cheapest - sticks to your belly like lead.

Staffords Chia (Also known here as 'Old Man Bread') is good

greenspurs

"contaminated bread" ........ jeez .....

I bet they still wear face (nappies) masks when they go out shopping looking for triple wrapped bread.............

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121704243#Comment_121704243

I believe the best British flour is imported from Canada.

I was pointed to a local Polish/ East European distribution unit by someone on "Boards" when Aldi cut their strong flour stocks. It's fine stuff.

What I can not quite understand is how come everyone does bread yeast, it's never in short supply, yet the flour strong enough to hold the little yeasties farts and belches in place is often nowhere to be seen.

Lidl have always plentiful stocks of yeast, but haven't had a high protein flour for years.

There must be a lot of disappointed buyers that bring home the yeast and a bag of plain flour :-(

John_Rambo

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

Excellent post. Our Brehon time food palate previously lost is being found again, berries, game, fish, bread, cheese etc... From the nation who's most famous myth is about a salmon.

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121704362#Comment_121704362

https://www.wildfarmed.co.uk/ are lauded as the best organic in Europe. I know a few professional bakers using their products and although it's harder to work with, the results are worth it (according to the experts)!

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121704702#Comment_121704702

Many thanks.

I am very grateful, I had no idea.

I kind of like the planet as well as bread, I will follow up on that. Thanks!

Feisar

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

As others have said, excellent stuff. I figured Cromwell/Penal Laws/The Great Hunger were to blame but could not articulate it other than the pesky English at it again.

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121704840#Comment_121704840

Well they did have another go with Brexit. That dear lady, Patel slithered out from under her stone to say it would be a good idea to withold food from the Irish if the EU didn't play ball.

Not bad coming from a country that is unable to produce enough food for it's own needs is it not?

A definite case of if at first you don't succeed, let's try the genocide again :-(

What I can't for the life of me comprehend is why the rubber boat people seem to find the place such a good idea to travel to.

The post Brexit opening of the envelope containing my Irish passport was I suppose a symbolic thing due to my solid ties and fequent periods living here all my life, bot nonetheless I count it as being amongst the few most treasured posessions I have these days

John_Rambo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121704723#Comment_121704723

One half of The Groove Armada owns it. They were in Dublin before xmas.

Badly Drunk Boy

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

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121699615#Comment_121699615

WHITE POWER! ( No, that's not it...)

WHITE PRIDE (No, not that either...)

IRISH PRIDE!! 😜

Slightly Kwackers

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121705529#Comment_121705529

WHITE SUPREMACIST!

Can you not photoshop a MIGA hat?

Although it could be argued that without the likes of Trump, we never stopped being great :-)