| Blaa | |
| Alternate Name: | bla, blah |
| Country: | Ireland |
| Region: | Waterford |
| Course: | Usually breakfast or lunch |
| Main Ingredient: | white flour |
| Minor Ingredient: | yeast, sugar, water, salt |
A blaa, 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, 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"). The breakfast blaa (egg, bacon rasher and sausage) is more common than the breakfast roll in Waterford.
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. Blaas quickly lose their freshness and are best consumed within a few hours of purchase.
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]