Farl is a flat, circular bread made with soda bread or potato cake dough, cut into quarters for consumption. It is a popular non-rising bread in Ireland, traditionally baked in a skillet on the stove and served with stews or gravies. Farls can also be used as part of a larger dish, such as the Ulster Fry breakfast. Potato farls contain only potatoes, butter, flour, and salt, while other types use buttermilk and flour with baking soda for leavening.
A farl is a non-rising form of bread popular throughout Ireland. It’s made with the same dough used in soda bread or potato cakes. The shape of the final piece of dough is what makes a farl a farl. It’s a somewhat generic term used to refer to a flat bread that is circular when baked but then cut into triangular quarters for consumption.
The term mostly refers to the way the bread is cut rather than the ingredients. Popular types of farl include those made from soda bread and potato bread, both of which are rather atypical types of bread. Nor are they made with yeast, as Ireland has a very humid climate which makes it difficult to grow wheat crops for use in the production of properly yeast-rising breads. To overcome this, bread is traditionally made with just a few ingredients and comes out flat when baked.
The bread is rolled into a flat circle, which is then cut into quarters. Each of these neighborhoods is shaped like what is known as a farl. The standard method of baking bread is in a skillet on the stove, rather than the more well-known way of baking bread in an oven. If eaten on its own, it is usually eaten while still hot, right after it comes off the stove.
Traditionally, farl was served alongside stews and gravies, when it was used to clean up the last food. It can be buttered or it can be served with jam or marmalade on top. There is usually nothing baked in the bread itself, although on special occasions fruit may be added to the dough.
Other times, farls can be used as part of a larger, more complicated dish. The Ulster Fry is a popular item throughout Ireland, especially in the north. A breakfast dish, the basis of the Ulster fry consists of two farls made with potatoes. Topping the farls are other traditional ingredients, such as black pudding, rashers, tomatoes, and sausage.
Regardless of the type of farl, very few ingredients are typically used to make the bread. Potato farls usually contain only potatoes, butter, flour and salt. In other types, baking soda is used to leaven bread, which otherwise contains only buttermilk and flour. These same ingredients are often used in baking pie, which is a similar round bread that isn’t cut into quarters. Pie is more popular in the southern part of Ireland, while farls are more commonly seen in the north.
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