Irish potato bread

I come from a reasonably large family of four kids and I believe this is why I always cook too many potatoes. Potato-duty for family meals was a large scale operation and the mission was successful upon delivery of a large pot or roasting pan full to the brim of peeled spuds. Anything less than this feels dangerously close to running out.

I am gradually un-learning this habit. Luckily alongside this I have learned an excellent way to use up surplus cooked potato: the delicacy that is potato bread. It’s delightfully simple – mashed potato, flour, butter and a pan + heat source is all you need. It’s also delicious.

I met potato bread when visiting my husband’s family in Ireland, where potato bread is an essential part of any cooked breakfast or ‘fry.’ And in fact a definitive part, as there are many regional variations on the cooked breakfast and potato bread, along with soda bread, is what marks out a cooked breakfast as Irish. As it was my husband’s birthday last week, I treated him to a proper Irish-style cooked breakfast with potato bread. Frankly this was a treat for me too. I use this recipe (my finished product does not look as tidy); the only addition I recommend to the method is cooking the potato bread twice. Once to make sure it is formed, and the second time in butter just before serving.

The only other rule to follow is the sauce – it must be topped with ‘red sauce’ (tomato sauce), and not under any circumstances ‘brown sauce’ (HP sauce) as this belongs with the bacon and sausages. And as with all meals in Ireland, served with a large cup of tea.