Bara Brith & Poached Egg

Photo © Rob Jones

So this has been on my mind for a while, mainly as an episode of the Welsh Tapas series, but I was in need of a festive snack and it suddenly occured to me that this fitted the bill precisely.

The only thing is … it’s weird.

And the other only thing is… it works.

Bara Brith is Wales’ national cake. Although it’s not a cake. Well, it is, but it’s not. That’s cleared up the confusion then. The name means ‘Speckled Bread,’ and there are as many recipes for it as there are stars in the sky, which is a total exageration. But some turn out like fruity bread, and others turn out like bready fruit cake. Essentially you find your favourite recipe and stick with it. It’s sometimes called Tea Loaf, because a significant element of it is steeping the mixed fruit in tea overnight. It’s often served smeared with butter.

Anyhow… so I thought … I want Poached Egg on Toast. Only there was no bread in the house.

So then I thought, Poached Egg on ‘next best’ thing - Bara Brith. Really? Could that work?

Let’s unpack this forensically …

Eggs and Sugar - fine. Eggs and Mixed Spice - also fine. Eggs and Cinnamon? some people add Cinnamon to scrambled eggs. Flour and Eggs. That’s pancakes. Eggs and Sugar - now we are in Custard territory. All good.

No harm in trying.

I cut the Bara Brith into quarter inch slices and toasted them on a griddle. Buttered them liberally. Poached an egg and sat it on top. Sprinkled some ground black pepper and a pinch of salt.

I went look for Tabasco Sauce … but drew a blank. Never mind.

Anyhow - It works (for me).

And since Bara Brith is only a hop, skip and a jump from Christmas Cake - that sort of makes it a Festive Snack :-)

RJ