Blaa

Alternative names	bla, blah
Course	Usually breakfast or lunch
Place of origin	Ireland
Region or state	Waterford
Main ingredients	white flour
Ingredients generally used	yeast, sugar, water, salt

A blaa /blɑː/, or Waterford Blaa, is a doughy, white bread bun (roll) speciality, particularly associated with Waterford, Ireland. ^[1] It is currently made in Waterford and South County Kilkenny. ^{[2] [3] [4]}

Blaas are sold in two varieties: "soft" and "crusty". ^{[5] [6]} Soft blaas are slightly sweet, malt flavour, light but firm in texture and melt in the mouth. Crusty blaas are crunchy at first bite, then chewy with a subtle malt taste and a pleasing bitter aftertaste from the well cooked, dark crust. ^[3]

Eaten mainly at breakfast with butter, ^[6] they are also eaten at other times of the day with a wide variety of fillings (including a type of luncheon meat often referred to as "red lead" ^[6]). The breakfast blaa (egg, bacon rasher and sausage) is more common than the breakfast roll in Waterford.^{[ citation needed]}

A combined 12,000 blaas are sold each day ^[7] by the four remaining bakeries producing blaas: ^[8] Walsh's Bakehouse, ^[9] Kilmacow Bakery, Barron's Bakery & Coffee House ^[10] and Hickey's Bakery. ^[11] Of the four remaining bakeries, only two remain in Waterford City. ^[6] Blaas quickly lose their freshness and are best consumed within a few hours of purchase. ^[6]

Some sources report that the blaa was introduced to Waterford at the end of the 17th century by the Huguenots. ^{[3] [6] [12]} This theory is disputed because although white flour existed in the 17th century, ^{[6] [13]} it was not widely used until mass production of the industrial revolution.

Blaas are sometimes confused with a similar bun known as a bap; however, blaas are square in shape, softer, and doughier, and are most notably identified by the white flour shaken over them before the baking process. ^[14]

On 19 November 2013, the Waterford blaa was awarded Protected Geographical Indication status by the European Commission. ^[15]

See also

• Cuisine of Ireland
• List of bread rolls
• List of breads
• List of buns

References

External links

• Specification Document for the Application of ‘Waterford Blaa PGI’
• Recipe