It is a very significant company here in Ireland. Needless to say, I was very much looking forward to trying some fresh butter from an Irish farm. It did not disappoint. The salty, rosemary butter with the brown bread was simple but delicious.
Making brown bread is quite simple! First, you mix two types of flour, baking power, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. This is considered a type of soda bread as it uses baking soda and baking powder as leveaners as opposed to yeast. Then you will knead the dough, make a large cross on the loaf, and poke a small hole in each of the four quadrants. According to tradition, the holes let the fairies escape before you bake the bread. Then all you need to do is bake it in the oven.
For the butter, you begin by churning cream - preferably using cream that is older (but not spoiled!). Traditionally, this cream would've been scraped from the top of milk from the farm's cows. Once the cream begins to solidify, you can separate out the buttermilk, which you could then use for your brown bread. Next, you wash the butter in water and pat it into a log using little wooden paddles. You can then wrap it up and store it to have with your bread.
Yes, a significant portion of Ireland is farmland. We often associate sheep farming with Ireland, which is accurate, but there are also dairy farms that produce world-famous butter. Historically, many Irish families would have lived on farms where they would make their own butter, buttermilk, and brown bread. This food was simple, affordable, and a staple in many homes.
