Bread is the Staff of Life

Skip to bottum for recipe

Bread in some shape or form has sustained life in almost every human society, past and present, since man first discovered how to utilise wild wheat and various dried roots to make basic flat breads.

My first memory of bread is watching my uncle Eddie crack a batch loaf on the side of the road like it was a builders brick to demonstrate to my mother how hard the loaf was when asked if he had any hard bread suitable for a dog.

Eddie was one of two bread men who called out to our house in his customised bread van. He served bread and sweet treats for Inglis’s bakery and called every Tuesday morning at 10.15 am. The other was Micky Madden who served for Hughes Baker and called on Friday mornings around the same time. Other bread men worked our estate with  some families having up to four bread men serving them weekly. This battalion of bread servers included at least one local home bakery ‘Mack’s. It was considered sacrilege  if you bought a soda farl or a wheaten ring from one of the bigger bakery vans as they were seen as industrial bakers.

To say bread was a staple in the sixties is an understatement, breakfast consisted of toast and butter; midday break consisted of two slices of pan bread with ham or cheese filling; tea might consist of fried wheaten or soda farl and rashers and as a treat before bedtime bread and butter would be wolfed down like there was no tomorrow.

Today the array of bread on offer is mind-boggling. You might find yourself having to navigate your way through the bread aisle in the supermarket like you are on a whistle stop tour of Europe with Irish sodas and wheatens to Italian panini, German sourdough, Lithuanian rye , French croissant and Portugueses altentejo, to name but a few on display. Add to this gluten free flour breads, buckwheat, coconut flour, almond flour and you might find yourself longing for the days when a plain loaf, a sliced pan, a wheaten ring and a half dozen sodas could be shouted from the  hallway of your home to the bread man out on the street with a promise that you would pay him on Friday when the giro cheque comes.

Wholegrain seeded bread

Recipe

500 grams of wholegrain seeded bread flour (See picture)

1tsp fast action dried yeast

1.5 tsp salt

25g butter

330ml lukewarm water

Method

Put the flour, yeast and salt into a bowl then add the butter and rub in with fingertips untill the mixture looks like breadcrumps. Gradually add the water to make a soft dough.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured suface for about 10 minutes then return to the bowl and cover with cling film and place in warm place for 60 minutes to rise.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead well then place the dough in a greased 2lb loaf tin and cover with lightly oiled cling film and leave it in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Remove the cling film and place in a pre-heated oven at 220oC/200oC for fan oven/Gas mark 7 for 30 -33 minutes

Result

.