This is a subscriber-only article
With the new year upon us, we’re all looking forward to being a little healthier this January.
Is there anything better on a cold winter’s day than some steaming soup and fresh brown bread?
Every year, the winner of the national brown bread competition sponsored by Aldi in association with the National Ploughing Association (NPA) and the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) goes on shelves in Aldi.
And this year, the recipe for the award-winning bread comes from Aisling O’Toole from Monasterevin, Co Kildare.
Speaking about her bread being on shelves nationwide, Aisling said: “The recipe is a very special one to me, as it originated from my daughter’s autism spectrum disorder class of Scoil Phadraig Naofa in Athy many years ago.
"My passion for brown bread came from my mam, who baked every weekend with my sister Triona and I. We were all so excited to pop into our local store and see it on shelves!”
Due to government guidelines and the cancellation of the trade exhibition of the National Ploughing Championships, the team at Aldi, NPA and ICA ploughed on and decided to run the competition a little differently, once again opening entries to bakers all over Ireland, with hopeful bakers asked to drop their freshly made loaves of brown bread to Aldi stores for a second year.
The finals of this year’s competition took place in the beautiful Howth Castle Cookery School, where Aisling’s loaf came out on top against three other finalists.
The national brown bread baking competition has gone from strength to strength, with more and more talented bakers from around the country getting involved each year.
Aldi is delighted to be able to continue to support local producers and keep Irish traditions alive in this way.
Who knows what 2022 will bring, but perhaps we’ll be back to the Ploughing as we know it this September.
Doyle’s Grocers opens in Ballymore Eustace
We love a good nose around a food shop and one that we are adding to our list to visit in 2022 is Doyle’s Grocers, recently opened by brothers Conor and Dominic Doyle in Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare.
Food business is in their blood, as their grandfather Dominic Doyle opened the very first delicatessen in Ireland in the 1960s and he also owned and ran the famous DB Doyle’s Butchers and meat processing plant in Newbridge, Co Kildare.
Aside from being a successful food producer, Dominic Doyle senior was a highly skilled businessman and was also the owner and one of the founders of the Newbridge Cutlery factory, now known as the world-famous lifestyle brand Newbridge Silverware.
Doyle’s Grocers is embracing the style of a traditional, old world-style grocers and artisan food shop.
Located in what was an old butcher’s shop in the square in Ballymore Eustace, original, vintage dressers are filled with old fashioned tins of spices and unusual store cupboard luxuries.
These include olive pâté, chilli infused honey, traditional lemon curd and ‘blow your head off’ inferno hot sauce.
Local products include Bernard Gibney’s jams and preserves, Ballyhubbock Farm Cheese and delicately fragrant goat’s cheese made by Conor Phelan of Hollywood Farmhouse Cheese, as well as Dermot Carey’s organic vegetables from his farm in Arsdcull, Co Kildare.
In true Doyle family butcher’s style, and in homage to the duo’s grandfather, the store also stocks venison steaks, cured meats, speciality sausages and black pudding such as Inch House Pudding, hand made by Máirín Byrne from Co Tipperary.
Doyle’s Grocers is located in the Square, Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare. For more information, follow @doylesgrocers on Instagram or email domodyle@gmail.com.
SHARING OPTIONS: