All About Us
The sweet smells of The Bretzel Bakery have been wafting down South Richmond Street since the 1870's. The Bakery is well known to generations of the Dublin Jewish community and still known as the Jewish Bakery with it's Kosher status re-established since William Despard and Cormac Keenan took over in 2000
Back in the 1900's the Grinspon family ran a small bakery here. The Elliman family took it over in 1910. The chain of Jewish ownership was broken when the bakery's head baker, Christy Hackett, agreed to take it over from Ida Stein in the 1960's for one week and said that if he made a profit he would continue. The bakery remained in the Hackett family for two generations until ill health forced a sale.
The bakery has an established reputation and customer base, selling to restaurants, gourmet deli's and sandwich makers, our own bakery shop and food markets and we rate trust, both in our products and our business methods, as our core value.
The recipes below are some compiled by us for your enjoyment. We hope that in time, these will form The Bretzel Bakery Recipe Book and we would love to hear from you if you have any recipes. Happy Baking!
St Patrick's Day is a day for celebration and to free up your day to soak up the atmosphere of the Parade, why don't you make our Irish Stew recipe and put it in your slow cooker so that you have your meal ready when you get back. Park the car, walk to the parade via Portebello and drop in to the Bretzel Bakery to pick up our special Shamrock Shaped Brown Soda or our Sourdough Bread Bowls so you've no washing up!
Other Recipes
This recipe comes from Patrycja who works in the Bretzel Bakery Shop. A great new idea for using up your stale bread and creating a gourmet lunch! Patrycjas Special
Click here to download our delicious, low fat soup Red Pepper and Cream Cheese Soup great with our Country Store bread.
Click here to download our Pumpkin Soup Recipe which compliments our Granary Bread.
Click here to download our Bread & Butter Pudding Recipe
Click here to download our Grilled Cheese on Sourdough Bread Recipe
Click here to download our latest recipe French Toast with Honey
Down to Business, Newstalk - (Sunday, 12th February 2012)
William chatting with Bobby Kerr about the Bakery and our Real Bread Campaign. The Bretzel Bakery are finalists in two categories of the Small Firms Association Awards, Sustainability and Food & Drink.
Pat Kenny Show - Interview with Valerie Cox (June 2011)
Great interview between Valerie Cox and William Despard, one of the owners of the Bretzel Bakery in Portobello.
Valerie Cox learns all about the different breads and how they are made. She also learns about the rich Jewish history in the area and meets Lillian Estelle Harding, aged 92, one of the Bretzel Bakery's first customers.
Valerie also interviewed Cantor Alwyn Robert Schulmann, who has to check the Bakery regularly to maintain it's Kosher status.
Stylirish.ie – April 2011
Stylirish is a Lifestyle Channel for the Irish People and the Business. They try to deliver to their viewers interesting and entertaining content, keeping their viewers up-to-date with lifestyle, social events, Arts, entertainment and much more.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYjW0FAIUug
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umCk-OHtIeY&feature=related
The Bretzel Car Charging in Dublin - May 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=b4wD7jUqGXI
Food for thought from the Bretzel Bakery
Our bread is local
We believe there should be a geographical and tangible link between bakery and its customers.
At the Bretzel Bakery we MAKE bread while others manufacture theirs
No additives are needed.
We make it the same way as those before us made it
Not out of our stubborn loyalty, but it tastes better: our customers tell us so.
There is nothing like fresh bread
It goes stale when it goes stale. We will make more tomorrow.
Dublin Born 'n Bread
Hard work, flour, water and yeast, with natural seeds, herbs & spices are the Bretzel's only secrets. In a fast paced world we do the simple stuff.
"Slow dough", nothing added but time
We are working closely with the Irish Bakery School to explore some old flavours and varieties that are new to us.
We make bread the old way BUT
We find that some of the new ways are much better when it comes to things like administration, health & safety. We run a modern and efficient back office, which keeps things running smoothly out front.
Sustainability
We are committed in our responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution by implementing actions that not only save money and improve productivity for the Bretzel Bakery, but also protect the environment and increase the nation's energy security.
More About Bread Nutrition and our Health…
Sourdough Breads
- Sourdoughs, using natural yeast starters, the original method of making bread without using added yeast, can be beneficial for those with yeast sensitivity.
- The longer fermentation can also aid digestion.
Wholewheat
- Many of the nutrients and minerals found in whole wheat bread encourage healthy heart function. Breads made of whole wheat can regulate your blood sugar and cholesterol levels and decrease the risk of high blood pressure. These are all benefits for your heart. People who eat a diet that contains sufficient amount of whole wheat are almost 1/3 less likely to suffer heart failure.
- In bread that's made from whole wheat grains, the bran and germ of the wheat flour are not removed and are left whole in the process. Whole grains are cereal grains that contain cereal germ, endosperm and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm.
Bran
- About 14% of the kernel weight. The bran is included in whole wheat flour and is also available separately.
- The bran contains a small amount of protein, large quantities of the three major B vitamins, trace minerals and dietary fibre -- primarily insoluble.
Endosperm
- About 83% of the kernel weight and the source of white flour. The endosperm contains the greatest share of protein, carbohydrates and iron, as well as the major B-vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, thiamin and iron. It is also a source of soluble fibre.
Germ
- About 2.5% of the kernel weight: the germ is the embryo or sprouting section of the seed, often separated from flour in milling because the fat content (10 percent) limits shelf life. The germ contains minimal quantities of high quality protein and a greater share of B-complex vitamins and trace minerals. Wheat germ can be purchased separately and is included in whole wheat flour.
- Whole wheat bread helps to strengthen the immune system.
- Breads made of whole wheat can regulate your blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels and blood pressure. These are also beneficial to your heart.
Why do you want whole grains?
- They contain the bran and the germ of the grain, which have more nutrients than the endosperm—those are the real names; we didn't make them up—that you get with refined or enriched grains. Whole grains are absorbed more slowly than foods made from enriched or bleached flour, so they raise glucose and insulin levels less and keep you feeling fuller longer.
- A diet rich in whole grains may also help steer you around cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, even gum disease.
The Wholegrain Council & Nutrition
The Wholegrain council outline the benefits of including wholegrains in your daily diet in great detail with references to clinical trail results and medical publications. In summary, a healthy diet containing whjolegrain foods is more likely to help:
- Reduce the risk of diabetes
- Reduce the risk of heart disease
- Improve weight management
- And may help lower the risk of stomach and bowel cancer than a diet that does not contain wholegrains.
Health Benefits of adding seeds to your diet
- Low carbohydrate food
- High in Protein
- Rich in Omega 6
- High fibre food
- Cholesterol free
- Natural source of vitamin E
- Seeds promote health in multiple ways – by helping to lower cholesterol, stabilize blood sugars, reduce risk for colon cancer and improve bowel health.
Nutitional Information about Walnuts
Irish Independent – Monday, 28th March 2011
Walnut is King if you're nuts about good health
http://www.independent.ie/health/latest-news/walnut-is-king-if-youre-nuts-about-good-health-2597075.html