Honest Bread
Browse by loaf

Every honest loaf

Every real bread has a home and a heritage. Pick a type to learn what it is, what makes it the real thing, and which scratch bakers across the UK and Ireland still make it properly.

MADE ACROSS THE UK AND IRELAND; THE BACK

Sourdough

Leavened by a living culture alone. The real thing, not "sourfaux".

391 bakers →
BAKED EVERYWHERE A REAL BAKER MILLS OR B

Wholemeal

The whole grain, nothing milled away. Hearty and honest.

180 bakers →
A STAPLE GRAIN BREAD ACROSS NORTHERN EUR

Rye Bread

Wholegrain rye, with or without a sour. Earthy and substantial.

88 bakers →
AN ITALIAN TRADITION NOW MADE BY CRAFT B

Focaccia

Olive-oil rich, dimpled and open. A slow-proved Italian flatbread.

78 bakers →
A NORTHERN AND EASTERN EUROPEAN TRADITIO

Rye Sourdough

Dense, dark and tangy. A long ferment that keeps for a week.

75 bakers →
AN ANCIENT GRAIN REVIVED BY CRAFT BAKERS

Spelt

An ancient wheat, nutty and digestible. Often baked as sourdough.

64 bakers →
A FRENCH CLASSIC; A REAL ONE IS BAKED, N

Baguette

A long French stick, crackling crust, made fresh that day.

63 bakers →
A FRENCH ENRICHED BREAD MADE PROPERLY BY

Brioche

An enriched dough of butter and egg. Soft, golden, a little sweet.

49 bakers →
AN ITALIAN LOAF MADE WELL BY WET-DOUGH C

Ciabatta

A wet-dough Italian loaf, blistered crust, big irregular holes.

31 bakers →
A HIGH-STREET FAVOURITE ACROSS IRELAND A

Batch Loaf

Baked touching, pulled apart. Soft sides, proper crust top and bottom.

26 bakers →
A STAPLE OF THE IRISH KITCHEN, NORTH AND

Soda Bread

Flour, buttermilk, bicarb. Brown or white. Anything else is a tea cake.

24 bakers →
A CLASSIC BRITISH SHAPED WHITE LOAF.

Bloomer

Slashed on top, baked free on the sole. Crisp crust all round.

20 bakers →
THE NORTHERN IRISH NAME FOR BROWN SODA B

Wheaten Bread

Ulster's wholemeal soda. Nutty, close-textured, cut in farls.

8 bakers →
AN IRISH TEA BREAD, TRADITIONAL AT HALLO

Barmbrack

An Irish fruit bread, lightly spiced. Yeasted or made with tea.

8 bakers →
WATERFORD, IRELAND. PROTECTED GEOGRAPHIC

The Blaa

A soft, floury white roll with EU protected status. Found nowhere else.

2 bakers →
Answer engine

Real bread, defined

What counts as a real bread?
A real bread is mixed and baked from scratch on the premises, from honest ingredients like flour, water and salt, with no frozen or par-baked shortcut and no hidden additives. The same loaf made from a factory frozen dough is not the real thing.
What is the difference between sourdough and "sourfaux"?
True sourdough is leavened only by a live starter of wild yeast and bacteria, with no added commercial yeast. So-called sourfaux uses yeast or flavourings to fake the taste while skipping the slow fermentation that makes sourdough what it is.