What’s the best thing since sliced pan?

Eaten bread is soon forgotten, but with the wide range now available, consuming this dietary staple can be a far more memorable experience, writes Aisling Meath

BREAD is symbolic and sacramental, a food enjoyed since the dawn of civilisation, and in revolutions from Versailles to Cairo, history has shown it as one which every government must provide or risk a downfall. An alchemy between water, fl our and salt, bread is an essential part of the global diet, and since ancient Egypt has been enjoyed in both its forms either as leavened – bread that has risen, or unleavened – the fl atbread variety.

The bakers of West Cork continue to provide the comfort of the traditional with favourites such as brown soda bread, while at the same time embracing the new in response to the surge of interest in ‘world breads’.

People are also becoming increasingly aware of nutrition and many supermarket bakeries now provide delicious ‘health breads’ which often suit people with gluten intolerance and those following a low-carb diet.

There has been a spectacular rise in global popularity for sourdough bread, which is proving to be a popular choice for people with gluten intolerance.

Marius Szczepinska, a Polish baker, has been with Collin’s Centra in Drimoleague since 2006. Along with his other baking skills he introduced his own receipe for sourdough bread from Poland, which is being enjoyed for its light texture and great taste.

There are many versions of sourdough and Marius makes it to suit the Irish palette by reducing the sour content, and it is a welcome addition alongside the ‘Tim’s Table’ range available at the store.

‘It’s a big plus to have Marius and the rest of our baking team who consistently provide excellent breads to our customers’ said Sean Collins ‘It’s great to share our culture through food and we welcome our non-national community bringing new recipes and skills which we are delighted to incorporate into our range.’

There is also a sugar-free oat bread and a granary loaf enriched with calcium and iron, all freshly baked on the premises.

Andrew Healy of SuperValu in Dunmanway has also noticed the changing tastes.

‘There has been a consumer shift towards new breads of the world with sourdough being a typical example.’ he said.

‘Our experience is that the core customer is sticking with the basics of homemade brown, but treating themselves on occasion to the new world breads; and they are not afraid to experiment with new products.

‘The pumpkin seed bread baked at Healy’s is proving to be a big hit with customers along with a great variety of other breads to suit all tastes and nutritional needs.’

Many people watching their diet often try to reduce their intake of carbohydrates, but really miss bread in all its tasty manifestations.

Liz Murphy, a Skibbereen solicitor decided to make her own when she couldn’t fi nd an alternative that she enjoyed. She started making her grain-free, linseed and almond bread – at fi rst for herself but soon people who tried it found it delicious, and good enough to share.

Since 2017 Liz’s grain-free bread is produced at the bakery in Fields

Liz Murphy, who has developed a popular recipe for grain-free breads.

SuperValu, along with their own range of delicious breads. ‘It was very rewarding that people with specifi c health conditions, such as diabetes, told me they were enjoying it

and including it in their diets.’ said Liz who is currently developing a dairyfree version. ‘We are fi nding our corn bread to be a big seller,’ said Eoghan Scally of Supervalu Clonakilty ‘and people are loving our chia bread as well.’ The bakery in Scally’s will be celebrating its 15th anniversary in November and their team of eight bakers are constantly trying out new fl atbread on sale at SuperValu in both Clonakilty and Skibbereen. This ancient form of bread is made at the ‘Al Sham bakery’ by the Syrian community in Cork and it’s popularity is growing apace as people enjoy the authentic fl atbread. ‘We currently make three types of bread’ said Mohamad Maarof, manager at Al Sham bakery. ‘We have a brown and a white fl atbread and a

Palestinian bread which is smaller and resembles a pitta bread’ he explained. So, if you want to save on food miles, West Cork has many options for locally produced global and healthy bread.

Baking fresh bread every day

Evangeline Kingston and Sheila Trunwit, Collins Centra Drimoleague.

recipes to bring to their customers. Sourdough is also proving to be a big hit in Clonakilty, and the team at Scally’s welcomed a specialist baker from France who came to demonstrate the process of making it.

‘There are various stages to the process of making sourdough,’ explained Eoghan, ‘but above all you can’t rush it.’

The process of making leavened bread like sourdough was discovered, probably by accident, between 4,000 and 8,000 years ago when dough fermented and produced gas – and a risen loaf. Thus began the process of using a ‘leaven’ from one batch of dough to plum the rest. The bakers at Scally’s are also currently developing turmeric bread as well as bread with aronia berries, which is a purple ‘superberry’.

Many people are also enjoying the availability of ‘unleavened’ Camilo Fernades, of Healy’s Dunmanway.

INCLUDING • White & Brown sliced • Brown Soda • Sourdough • Rye Loaf • Bracks • Fruit Brack

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