March 4, 2011

Pareve Bread aka Dairy Free! – The Bretzel Bakery


The Bretzel Bakery is one of the lovely things about Portobello. It’s a top-notch establishment based in the heart of the old Jewish section and has been in business there since 1870! I don’t know if you know all the in’s and out’s of Jewish dietary laws but one of the best cross-over’s for milk free diets (vegetarian & vegan to a lesser extent) is that dairy and meat cannot be taken together in the same meal, or even served on the same plates. Depending on the nationality and personal customs a wait of 1 to 6 hours must lapse between the different meals. This of course means that it is essential to know which foods contain dairy and which foods do not!
Although the Bretzel Bakery no longer holds a Kosher certificate they do still have a list of all of the breads which are considered Pareve (dairy free) so ask if you are unsure but all of the breads listed as ‘P’ are:

- White bread
- White round
- Turnovers
- Twist
- Vienna
- Baguettes
- Ciabatta Bap
- Onion Bap
- White Hotel Rolls
- Brown Hotel Rolls
- Tomato Hotel Rolls
- White Dinner Buns
- Walnut Wheaten
- T & F Slipper Bap
- Rye
- Seeded Rye
- Farmhouse Slow Dough
- Sourdough 30% Rye
- Sourdough 100% Rye (also wheat free – note: cross-contamination is an issue)
- Challah (dairy free but contains eggs)


But unfortunately the bagels are not dairy free –sniff sniff


Also good to note:
- Brown Scones are yeast free (note: cross-contamination may be an issue)
- Brown Soda Bread are yeast free (note: cross-contamination may be an issue)
- Macroons are Gluten free (note: cross-contamination may be an issue)


Bread is very yum but unfortunately many find it hard to be satisfied on bread alone… and the Bretzel Bakery has a very tempting array of sweet treats but I suggest venturing forth with caution. As far as I’m aware the sweets are made off site and although I believe some of them to be dairy free I have unfortunately received mixed guidance from the staff so extreme caution and food allergy street sense should be on a high alert if you are thinking of indulging.

Quick Guide to Kosher labelling (below symbols usually appear in a circle):
OU – dairy free & meat free
P – dairy free
DE – may contain dairy (similar to ‘produced on a line that handles dairy’ warnings)
OU-M – dairy free but does, or may contain meat
OU-D – does contain or may contain dairy

If you would like to know more about the Kosher symbols and categories a helpful link is: www.godairyfree.org/Food-to-Eat/Food-Label-info/Understanding-Kosher.html


1a Lennox Street
Portobello
Dublin 8
tel: 01 4752724
web: www.bretzel.ie
Opening Times: mon-fri 08:30-18:00; sat 09:00-17:30; sun 09:00-13:00 (Closed on Bank Holiday Sundays and Mondays)

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