My job usually involves a lot of business travel which I’ve been direly missing during the pandemic. As a surrogate, I’ve started exploring many parts of the world through Youtube videos of boat trips and maritime expeditions. Most of them don’t fail to talk about local cuisine.
That’s how I came across Bonnag, a buttermilk soda bread originating from the Isle of Man. Luckily enough, a pal of mine grew up there and was able to find me a family recipe. I turned it into three Bonnag variants – just in time for the Cappuccino on the Foredeck last Sunday!
Let’s start by preheating the oven to 190°C.
The dough is made by mixing the following ingredients thoroughly by hand:
- 1000 g white flour
- 20 g baking soda
- 10 g salt
- 750 ml buttermilk at room temperature
Now split the dough into three equal parts. Use one part for each of the following variants.
Plain Bonnag
- Incorporate 20 g of white sugar into the dough.
- Shape into two or three balls and place on baking sheet.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes until browned. Knock on the bottom of the Bonnags with a knuckle. If you hear a hollow sound, they’re done!
Raisin Bonnag
- Proceed like for plain Bonnag, but, in addition to the sugar, incorporate a handful of raisins into the dough before shaping.
Spicy Bonnag
- Incorporate 1 crushed or finely chopped clove of garlic, 100 g grated cheese (2/3 gruyère and 1/3 parmesan worked well) and 3 tablespoons of chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme, flat-leafed parsley, chervil) into the dough.
- Shape into one loaf.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes.
The Spicy Bonnag turned out to be my favorite while the First Mate preferred the plain variant and the Second Mate the one with raisins. So there was one to please every taste!
