Waterford Blaa

Appearance & taste

The rolls are shaped round and placed round on the baking tray. During baking they rise and stick together, so that after being separated they are square, while the domed top looks round. They are 3 to 4.5 cm high, 8 to 12 cm in diameter and weigh 40 to 65 g; shape and size are typically not uniform. The thick layer of flour gives the top its rough, cracked appearance.

The crusty Blaa is a rustic square or round roll with a domed, crusty, floury top: first crunchy, then soft, with a slight malt flavour and a pleasantly bitter aftertaste from the well-baked dark crust. The soft Blaa is clearly square, oval or round in shape, pale and heavily floured; it tastes slightly sweet and malty, is light but firm and melts in the mouth.

Production

The dough consists of strong baker’s flour without preservatives, table salt, compressed yeast, flour treatment agents and water. It is tougher and contains less water than for other rolls and has to be worked intensively. All steps take place in the area: mixing, resting, kneading, dividing and resting, rolling out and moulding, proving, baking, inspection and cooling. The dough is floured by hand at least three times in the process, and each roll is rolled out by hand before baking; according to the specification, Blaas therefore cannot be made by machine alone.

They are baked without steam. The thick layer of flour protects the rolls from the heat of the oven. They are baked longer than other rolls, so that a more pronounced crust with the typical malt flavour forms. Baking usually takes place at night, as the Blaa is a popular breakfast roll.

Origin & history

The area comprises the whole of County Waterford and the immediately adjoining part of south County Kilkenny with the electoral divisions of Ullid and Dunkitt. In the Middle Ages Waterford was a powerful trading city from which leather, wheat, flour and butter were shipped to England, Spain, France and Italy.

Because documents were destroyed in the Civil War, the history relies on oral tradition. According to it, French Protestants, the Huguenots, came to Waterford from 1685 and in the late 17th century brought with them a bread made from leftover dough, called “blaad” or “Blanc”; as it became more popular, they made a separate dough for it. The name later became “Blaa”. At the beginning of the 19th century the Blaa became popular above all among the poor, when the founder of the Christian Brothers made it from 1802 in his bakery at Mount Sion in Waterford; the simple ingredients made it cheap. According to the specification, the name is a symbol of Waterford: the morning programme of the local radio station WLR FM is called “The Big Blaa Breakfast Show”.