Welsh Foods
White Bread
Rhyd Lewis, Ceredigion
Baking bread in a wall oven.
This loaf was prepared as a luxury for Sunday tea.
Llanrhystud, Cardiganshire.
The Recipe
You will need
- one pound white flour
- half an ounce dried yeast
- a little warm water
- one ounce butter
- one egg, well beaten
- a little salt
- half a pint warm milk
Method
- Rub the butter into the flour and add the salt.
- Blend the yeast in warm water and pour into a well in the centre of the flour.
- Add the beaten egg and the warm milk to the yeasted water and beat again with a wooden spoon.
- Now gradually work in the flour to make a soft dough.
- Knead well and shape into one large loaf.
- Put it in a greased tin and leave in a warm place until the dough has risen to twice its original size.
- Bake the loaf in a hot oven for approximately one hour.
Rhydlewis, Cardiganshire.
Film/Recording
An important record of the traditional method of baking bread in a pot oven.
In this edited version, Mrs Leis Rogers of Ffair-rhos is seen lifting dough which has already been mixed from a bowl onto the kitchen table. She then kneads it into a small round loaf, marks it with a knife, and then puts it into the pot oven to bake on the open fire. A lid is put on the pot, and blocks of peat from the fire are lifted with tongs from the fire to be placed carefully on the lid. An hour later, Mrs Rogers is seen lifting the lid of the pot oven with the tongs, taking care not to spill any of the ashes on the lid onto the loaf. The loaf has been successfully baked - she lifts it out of the pot oven and knocks the underside of it with her fist to test it before placing it on the table to cool.
Comments - (1)
I was aware of the method. But had not seen it in action