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Why does Irish bread go grey instead of hard?

SwissK

Hi,

I have been living in Ireland for 10 years (grew up in Switzerland).
One thing that I haven;t figured out is, why the heck does the bread here in Ireland go off? Regular sliced bread goes off within 3 days if it's not in the fridge.

A a few weeks back, friends from work (Spanish, French, Italian, German) were asking the same question. It seems that in mainland Europe, bread just goes hard, but never ever grey. (only if it's kept inside a sealed bag with no air for weeks.)
Also the idea to put bread in the fridge is for most foreigners ridiculous.

So what makes it go all moldy? The humidity? Different way of baking it (different yeast or flour)?

It's just strange as this seems to only affect UK and Ireland, but not mainland Europe. Here, regular sliced bread, burger/hot dog buns, even soda bread... all grows blue mold after just 72 hours.

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Massimo Cassagrande

murpho999 wrote: »

It's not food snobbery. Standard of bread in Ireland is poor but improving. Buying any pre packed is a bad idea. Especially the Brennan's white pan type. Truly awful stuff. Bread should not still soft after 3 days.

Fortunately the choices in fresh and wholemeal breads are increasing. Agree with other posters about milk. Much better in Ireland.

Ah stop - I just finished a big bacon sangwidge - Two slices of fresh Brennans, lashings of Kerrygold butter and a leathering of crispy streaky rashers hot out of the pan. Gorgeous.

Most food on the "mainland" is utter muck - you'd starve out there unless you lowered your standards to pigs entrails, liver and cows ears. They appear to subsist on offal and odd rye bread with UHT milk and crap tea. They must send all the good cuts of meat to here and the UK and survive on the leftovers. Irish bread and food is brilliant - otherwise why would we have such a thriving food-export sector.

kylith

Massimo Cassagrande wrote: »

Ah stop - I just finished a big bacon sangwidge - Two slices of fresh Brennans, lashings of Kerrygold butter and a leathering of crispy streaky rashers hot out of the pan. Gorgeous.

Most food on the "mainland" is utter muck - you'd starve out there unless you lowered your standards to pigs entrails, liver and cows ears. They appear to subsist on offal and odd rye bread with UHT milk and crap tea. They must send all the good cuts of meat to here and the UK and survive on the leftovers. Irish bread and food is brilliant - otherwise why would we have such a thriving food-export sector.

Don't knock the offal! A bit of kidney is lovely.

Massimo Cassagrande

kylith wrote: »

Don't knock the offal! A bit of kidney is lovely.

If God wanted us to eat that muck, he wouldn't have invented steak.

Yamanoto

As an aside OP, it's worth noting it's a Swiss company with Irish roots who are responsible for the stodgiest & most joyless bread available on the Irish market today - Aryzta own the Cuisine de France brand.

Were I François Hollande, I'd be ordering air-strikes on a factory that besmirches a nations culinary reputation to such an egregious extent.

Akrasia

Yamanoto wrote: »

As an aside OP, it's worth noting it's a Swiss company with Irish roots who are responsible for the stodgiest & most joyless bread available on the Irish market today - Aryzta own the Cuisine de France brand.

Were I François Hollande, I'd be ordering air-strikes on a factory that besmirches a nations culinary reputation to such an egregious extent.

the nth law of progress is that the sick will reject the cure as witchcraft

PucaMama

whats the best type of bread bin?

ArtSmart

PucaMama wrote: »

whats the best type of bread bin?

lol.

anyway, re OP; damp and preservatives.

Get thee proper delicatessen/ bakery brown bread.

White bread in Ireland*? Tis for sinners.

(*The land of dampness)

smurgen

Massimo Cassagrande wrote: »

Ah stop - I just finished a big bacon sangwidge - Two slices of fresh Brennans, lashings of Kerrygold butter and a leathering of crispy streaky rashers hot out of the pan. Gorgeous.

Most food on the "mainland" is utter muck - you'd starve out there unless you lowered your standards to pigs entrails, liver and cows ears. They appear to subsist on offal and odd rye bread with UHT milk and crap tea. They must send all the good cuts of meat to here and the UK and survive on the leftovers. Irish bread and food is brilliant - otherwise why would we have such a thriving food-export sector.

Bang on.i lived i Switzerland for a few years and France and the average food available is a way lower quality than Ireland.this idea that french bread is the bees knees is for the most part not true either.their sliced pans are surgery and disgusting,like American bread.the baguettes are pretty much the same as what you get here.when it comes to dairy and meat products we blow them out of the water too.and I include cheese in that.

Jesus Wept

umop apisdn wrote: »

I've never seen anyone in Ireland put bread in the fridge, and the muck the supermarkets provide now are so packed full of chemicals, it goes off in weeks rather than days.

I put it in the fridge. Keeps longer. Bread bins are a farce, it's just a cupboard for bread.

Cee-Jay-Cee

I've never seen bread go grey! It goes hard after a week or so but if you close/seal the packaging after use each time it will stay fresh for almost a week. Once it starts to go off, blue mould forms but I have never seen bread go grey. Maybe your eyes need testing....

threebagsfull

smurgen wrote: »

Bang on.i lived i Switzerland for a few years and France and the average food available is a way lower quality than Ireland.this idea that french bread is the bees knees is for the most part not true either.their sliced pans are surgery and disgusting,like American bread.the baguettes are pretty much the same as what you get here.when it comes to dairy and meat products we blow them out of the water too.and I include cheese in that.

In fairness people aren't raving about French sliced pans! I lived there for a few years and I don't even remember seeing any. Their bakery bread is good, but it's more just something to put the cheese / terrine / cold meats with, and I have to disagree with you there. The cheese selection is brilliant even if you're not going to a fromagerie, and the cold meats and terrines you'd get at the market are really good. I've never been able to find anything decent here to compare.
If you're looking for Brennans and Easi Singles, yes you'll be disappointed.

Son Of A Vidic

SwissK wrote: »

Why does Irish bread go grey instead of hard?

Probably because of Sellafield.