This week’s recipe is for a version of our Dilisk Bread.
Almost exactly a year ago to the day, Derek and Aran attended the Irish Breakfast Awards in Dublin, where the bread received the ‘ Irish Bread Award ‘ for 2020 from Georgina Campbell’s Ireland Guide.
This bread is originally a Gerry Galvin Recipe. As a chef, restaurateur and poet, Gerry was always an inspiration to us at Rua.
After his untimely passing in 2013, we decided to make a version of his delicious Dilisk bread which we had remembered enjoying at a family meal in Drimcong many years before. We still make the bread every week and sell it at our shop on Spencer Street every Friday where it is much loved by our customers.
Our delicatessen on Spencer Street sells the Dilisk, Achill Sea salt and other ingredients featured in the recipe.
Rua’s Dillisk Soda Bread
Makes one 2lb / 900g loaf.
- 15g dried dillisk
- 4 eggs
- 50g sugar
- 60g melted butter
- 50 ml buttermilk
- 250g self-raising flour
- 150g grated carrot
- ½ teaspoon of bread soda, sieved
- Pinch of Achill Island Sea Salt (smoked)
- Pre-heat a moderate oven, 160° C.
- Soak the dillisk in water for 5 minutes, drain and squeeze dry. Check for any shells before finely chopping.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar by hand in a mixing bowl. Next, add the melted butter and buttermilk and whisk again until combined.
- Add all of the remaining ingredients and fold in lightly but thoroughly.
- Put the mixture in a lined 2lb/900g loaf tin and bake in the preheated oven at 160º C for 45 minutes. Remove from the tin return to the oven for 5 minutes.
- Allow to cool before slicing.
We also make a richer version of the dillisk loaf, with more butter but no bread soda or buttermilk: omit the bread soda and buttermilk, and increase the butter to 110g and the self-raising flour to 250g. All other amounts remain the same.
