Why is the white bread in Ireland so dire?

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 :-)

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 :-)

BROWN LOAVES MATTER!

Don't ever forget it!

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.

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.

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.

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 :-)

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.

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

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.