• Largest Irish Soda Bread baked and revealed this morning in St Stephen’s Green – weighing in at approximately 250kg! …and measuring 2 metres across!
• The loaf used 122.22 kg of flour and 110kg of buttermilk
• Irish bread industry applies for TSG status for iconic loaf
• National Bread Week celebrates all Irish bread
Irish soda bread has been an important part of Irish food culture for over two hundred years. To celebrate one of our most traditional loaves, bakers from McCloskey’s in Drogheda have baked the largest Irish soda bread on record. The loaf, which was unveiled today in Dublin, took 3.5 hours to bake, measured 2 metres across and weighed approximately 250kg. That’s over 500 times bigger than a traditional soda bread!
To help preserve and protect this great Irish tradition and recipe, The Flour, Confectioners and Bakers Association (FCBA) on behalf of Irish bakers has today also announced the industry’s intention to apply to the EU for TSG status for the Irish soda bread. TSG stands for ‘Traditional Speciality Guaranteed’ and is defined as a ‘product that results from a mode a production corresponding to traditional practice’.
FCBA president Patrick McCloskey explains why the Irish bread industry believes this is so important. “Irish soda bread is traditionally made from just four ingredients and to a method that has been passed down through the generations. Unlike most breads, it is made using baking soda and its origins are steeped in Irish history. The EU rules also state that the name of a product applying for TSG status should identify the traditional character of the product, which Irish soda bread clearly does. We therefore believe that Irish soda bread should be awarded TSG status, so that this unique recipe is recognised world wide and protected for future generations.”
