Irish Potato Bread a.k.a. Fadge

Having travelled to Northern Ireland more than twenty-five times, I’ve had my share of Irish potato bread or “fadge”. I first remember eating potato bread in the kitchen of a distant cousin in Lurgan, County Armagh. My grandparents, mother, sister and I crammed into her small booth- style table and proceeded to chow down on a traditional Ulster Fry, which of course, includes this delicious little thing. Fadge is also known as a potato “farl” from the Gaelic word “fardel” meaning “four parts”.

Check out the small pools of melted butter on top. Get yourself some Kerrygold if you want the real deal.

Although the recipe originally called for about 1/2 cup of flour, I found I needed substantially more to achieve a dough I could work with.

Use floury (i.e. baking) potatoes for best results.

Have plenty of flour nearby.

The dough, pressed into a thin layer and cut into quarters. Ready for the pan.

I sprinkled a bit of flour on each side of the potato bread before placing it into the pan. This helped created a slightly crunchy exterior.

Farls looking good – nice crust!

Because I was anxious to eat this, I didn’t even bother to make an egg…which is what I normally eat it with in Ireland.

Printable recipe

Potato bread can be purchased all over northern Ireland in corner shops and bakeries. I normally buy those made by Genesis – who happen to also make excellent scones. But there’s nothing quite like knowing how to make your own, too. The next time you have a couple of baking potatoes around, cook them up and make yourself some fadge. You’ll be hooked, I promise.

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