By Keighley’s Mike Armstrong, an award-winning master baker with a big passion for baking...

A BAP is, at its simplest, a bread roll.

At its more complicated, it is a tender pillow of dough, often made with milk, lard and butter.

The bap is the ideal bread for a simple meat sandwich. Whether the meat is leftover boiled beef, ham, bacon or sausages, the bap takes a simple meat and elevates it to one of the most steadying sandwiches a person could crave. And it's especially good for those mornings when soaking up all of the previous night's bad decisions is a top priority.

So let's start your day off with a freshly-made Belfast bap.

The Belfast bap is a large, crusty white bread roll which originated in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in the 19th century.

The creator of the Belfast bap was Bernard Hughes, a master baker and politician, who devised the bap during the Great Potato Famine which wiped out most of the potato crop.

Hughes the baker refused to hike the price of his bread, so that the poor could have affordable food. For Belfast people who lived in the crowded city streets and had no cooking facilities, bread was literally a lifesaver.

Hughes was born in Armagh and moved to Belfast in 1826, where he was an astute entrepreneur and established his bakeries. By 1870 he had Ireland's largest baking and milling business. He bought ships to import grain and had a fleet of horse-drawn carts to deliver baked goods to a wide range of shops. His continuing fame was due to his development and production of cheap and wholesome bread.

The most famous item he sold was the Belfast bap, more commonly known as Barney's baps. His bread is also recalled in a rhyme which was sung on the streets by local children: ''Barney Hughes' bread sticks to your belly like lead, not a bit of wonder, you fart like thunder, Barney Hughes' bread." The rhyme was inspired by the consequences of the use of beans and peas, which he substituted normal flour for in the recipe to keep the price of the bread low. Although this was very nutritious, it often made people who ate it pass wind a lot!

Today the Belfast bap is still a popular bread and is known in Belfast as the bread in a breakfast sandwich. I won't go into the slang name for baps, as the editor knows what side my bread is buttered on!

RECIPE

BELFAST BAPS

Makes 8

Ingredients:

500g strong white bread flour

300g warm milk

100g warm water

7g fast-action dried yeast

10g salt

10g butter, softened

10g sugar

Method:

1. Place all the ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix well; knead until you have a soft and silky dough.

2. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a tea towel and put in a warm spot until it doubles in volume.

3. Tip the dough onto a floured surface, divide into 150g pieces and roll into balls, placing onto a greased or lined baking tray.

4. Allow to prove till double in size, dust the tops with flour then bake in a preheated oven at 200C/180C fan/Gas Mark 6.

5. Bake your Belfast baps for 15-20 minutes or until they are browned.

6. Cool on a wire rack; and remember the Belfast crusty bap is slightly more brown than the usual sandwich bap or teacake.