Bara brith facts for kids
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Bara brith, a traditional Welsh bread
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| Type | Fruit loaf |
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| Place of origin | Wales |
| Main ingredients | Yeast, mixed fruit (such as raisins, currants and candied peel) |
| Variations | Without yeast, using self-raising flour instead |
Bara brith is a traditional Welsh tea bread. It is flavored with tea, dried fruits, and spices. Its name comes from the Welsh language. Bara means "bread" and brith means "speckled." So, it's a "speckled bread"!
For a while, this tasty bread became less popular. In 2006, a supermarket called Morrisons even stopped selling it. A year later, a survey showed that many teenagers in Wales had never tried it. But don't worry! Famous chefs like Bryn Williams have helped make it popular again. People have also created fun new versions of bara brith, like chocolate and ice cream flavors.
History of Bara Brith
Bara brith is said to have been invented by a Welsh chef. This chef added dried fruit and spices to regular bread dough. This created the first version of this special Welsh tea loaf. Sometimes, people even use the phrase "to over spice the bara brith." This means doing something too much!
In 2006, the supermarket Morrisons stopped selling bara brith in some of its Welsh stores. People complained, but the company said it was because not enough people were buying it. Another survey by Sainsbury's in 2006 found that 36% of teenagers in Wales had never tried bara brith. Across the whole UK, about 85% of teenagers had never tasted it.
Famous chef Phil Vickery cooked bara brith in Anglesey, Wales, in 2011. He made it for a TV show called This Morning. He used a traditional recipe passed down through a local chef's family. In 2013, Beca Lyne-Pirkis baked a bara brith on The Great British Bake Off. She used her grandmother's recipe. Even though it was tricky to finish in time, the judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry loved it!
How to Make Bara Brith
To make bara brith, you mix flour (either white or self-raising), yeast (if you're not using self-raising flour), butter, mixed dried fruit, spices, and an egg. The dried fruits often include raisins, currants, and sultanas.
Some recipes suggest soaking the dried fruit in tea overnight. This gives the bread an even richer flavor! After mixing, the dough needs to "proof." This means it rests and rises as the yeast works. The air is then gently pushed out, and it proofs again. This preparation can take a couple of hours. Then, it's baked in an oven until golden brown.
Bara brith is usually served at tea time. It's often enjoyed in slices with butter spread on top.
Different Kinds of Bara Brith
In Argentina, bara brith is also known as torta negra, which means "black cake." This version was brought to Argentina by Welsh settlers who arrived in 1865. It's now one of the most traditional foods in the Chubut valleys.
There are also other variations of bara brith in Wales. For example, Beca Lyne-Pirkis used a special tea oil in her Great British Bake Off recipe. This helped her avoid soaking the fruit overnight. In The Little Welsh Cookbook, a cup of cold tea is added to the mixture, and marmalade is used as a shiny glaze. Chef Bryn Williams uses lard in his recipe and a mix of raisins and candied peel.
The delicious flavors of bara brith have even inspired other foods! In 2009, a company in Carmarthenshire created a Bara Brith-inspired chocolate. It had a tea-flavored cream filling, dried fruit, and a cake-like texture. When Prince Charles visited Ammanford in 2011, he tried bara brith ice-cream! A local ice-cream shop made it because they knew he loved the bread.
See also
In Spanish: Bara brith para niños
