Search is on to find the world’s tastiest tatty bread

And they could face competition too from bakers in other parts of the UK.

The awards are the UK’s leading national celebration of the art of bread-baking. Launched in 2013, the awards are open to all, professional and amateur bakers, old and young. 

The potato bread category is new this year and has been influenced by promotion body Food NI which also encouraged the organisers to introduce a separate Irish wheaten bread category a couple of years ago.

The new potato bread title honours the memory of the late Charles Campion from Warwickshire, an internationally known food writer who was also a keen supporter of Northern Ireland food and worked with Food NI to showcase the best local products in Britain. He also mentored a number of smaller food and drink companies here in areas such as new foods.

The category will pick out the tastiest traditional potato bread made with the usual ingredients of floury potatoes that have been boiled then mashed, flour, water with a pinch of salt.

“The new award has been created in memory of Charles Campion, a distinguished food writer and devoted champion of Northern Irish foods and is a fitting tribute to his dedication. We wanted to acknowledge his outstanding commitment to our food and drink,” says Food NI chief executive, Michele Shirlow.

“This competition is an excellent opportunity for our bakers and bakeries to showcase their potato bread and gain recognition throughout the UK and further afield for their talent.”

Campion, who died in 2020, was a respected food journalist, writing restaurant reviews and food articles for The Independent, The Times, The Weekend Telegraph, Epicurean Life and Delicious. He was a regular judge at the Great Taste Awards, the British Cheese Awards and the International Cheese Awards.

The initiative has been welcomed by local bakers such as Mark Douglas of Dromore, better known as Krazi Baker, baker/chef Simon Dougan, the owner of Yellow Door catering and retail operation in Portadown, and James Herron of the Cookie Jar in Newcastle, a small bakery which has won awards for its wheaten bread in particular.

“Showcasing our potato bread is an excellent idea,” says Mark Douglas, who has won widespread acclaim for his small business producing traditional Northern Irish breads such as potato cakes, soda farls, treacle farls, pancakes and potato apple on the griddle at markets and other food events across the region. He also runs bakery classes for people here keen to learn how to bake the traditional breads.

Mark, who has been out of action for several months due to a ruptured Achilles tendon, aims to enter the potato bread category: “I’d already entered other categories with a sourdough loaf, focaccia and a Guinness wheaten before I heard about the new category. Potato bread is among my most popular grilled breads at markets here. People love the distinctive flavour and aroma of freshly baked potato bread. It’s hard to beat, especially with an Ulster Fry.”

While he is currently crafting the breads at home he hopes to be back on his market stalls, especially his weekly presence at Newtownards and Carrickfergus artisan food markets, soon.

He’s won Great Taste awards for his ‘fadge’, apple potato cake which was traditionally cooked in Ireland in autumn, when cooking apples were available in Ulster. It’s made from freshly cooked potatoes mixed with melted butter, salt, and flour. “It’s a potato bread wrapped, pastry-like, around a sweet filling of apples,” Mark explains.

Cookie Jar’s James Herron adds: “It’s great to see our most traditional of breads being recognised in a national bakery competition. It will help to highlight the bread in Britain.”

Several local bakeries already sell potato bread to supermarkets in Britain. They include Irwin’s in Craigavon and Belfast’s Ormo.

The World Bread Awards are backed by Tiptree, a UK specialist in jams, and Brook Food, a developer and manufacturer of equipment for bakeries across the world.

Winners of the new and existing categories stand to benefit substantially from success in the challenge. The accolades are regarded nationally as stamps of quality, awarded by senior representatives from the baking industry. The winners will be announced at the end of October.

Regarded as the UK’s most prestigious bread awards, they are judged by a stellar panel of judges, including chairman Stephen Hallam, Brand Ambassador for Dickinson & Morris, master baker, John Foster, of Fosters Bakery and BBC2’s Victorian Bakers, Andrew Whitley, founder, Real Bread Campaign, stars from the Great British Bake Off, buyers, influencers and more. The categories in the awards range from Sourdough to Savoury Sweet, Irish Wheaten to Vegan.