We are lucky in Northern Ireland in that we have some superb bakeries

One of the positive things to come out of lockdown was getting people to bake more. At one stage there was a shortage of yeast and we all had a go at making sourdough. I gave up on the latter and decided to just buy sourdough from a local bakery. We’re lucky here in that we have both traditional bakeries and those that embrace modern baking techniques. I live in Portstewart and, despite it being a small town, we have two bakeries. One called The Griddle, serves traditional breads like wheaten, farls, and a crusty loaf (once you start eating that one it’s hard to stop!). The other outlet is Vittle who bake croissants, brioche bread, Portuguese custard tarts and proper doughnuts. These bakeries stand at both ends of the spectrum but both are an essential part of the town’s make up. I consider myself lucky to live in a place where we’re so well catered for in the bread department.

Across Northern Ireland there are bakeries like these in many towns. This Real Bread Week, go and find one in your local area and support them. Imagine a world where we could only source mass produced bread from supermarkets? Making bread at home needn’t be a massive task either. Quick breads are a staple in this country where the combination of baking soda and buttermilk is the raising agent. It also gives the breads a unique taste and texture. The first recipe here is for a breakfast bread – a riff on soda bread. The dough is made from flour, baking soda and oil, pressed into a baking tray and topped with thinly sliced potatoes, bacon and tomatoes. Serve on its own or with scrambled eggs.

Souvlaki is one of those great Greek holiday treats – thinly sliced chicken thighs are flavoured with garlic, paprika, oregano and lemon and threaded onto kebab sticks intermittently with onion. In the summer you’d grill these on the barbecue but do them in a hot grill pan at this time of year. The kebabs are served on a hot potato griddle bread – much like traditional potato bread but with the addition of some yoghurt and oil. Roll the dough out as thinly as you can and cook on a hot griddle or frying pan. The breads are topped with lettuce, cucumber and tomato before adding the souvlaki and a creamy feta dressing. Shut your eyes and dream of the hot Greek islands…..

Last year I did a workshop in Coleraine where residents of different nationalities came together for a bread making class. I made our traditional breads like farls, potato bread and slims. What transpired was that all the cultures represented that day (Ukrainian, Chinese, Indian, Polish, Bulgarian and Uganda) all had very similar bread recipes. Essentially flour, salt, liquid and a raising agent, brought together and cooked over fire. And nothing brings people together like literally breaking bread together….