Image copyright K Meredith Image caption Kirsty Meredith (left) travels around Northern Ireland looking for the best potato bread

County Down woman Kirsty Meredith spends each weekend searching for Northern Ireland's best potato bread.

The quality assurance analyst from Newtownards is obsessed with the Ulster fry mainstay and has so far visited 50 towns and 66 outlets to taste and rate the potato bread sold in bakeries and restaurants.

A record of Kirsty's travels and the results of her tests can be found on Facebook, where she has set up a page dedicated to her passion.

On Potato Bread Girl NI, potato bread of all kinds is rated based on five factors - tastiness, texture, toastiness, service and value - and an overall scale of between one and five.

"I go 'potato breading' every Saturday," said 27-year-old Kirsty.

"When I finish work on a Friday evening I do my research and plan where I'll head off to the next day.

"On the Saturday morning, I make a 'before' video updating everyone on where I plan to go and then an 'after' video when I arrive at my destination.

'Samples'

"Then I visit every bakery and restaurant in the area that sells potato bread and bring samples home to toast and rate them.

"I also have a potato bread gang to help me - plastic toys Ducky, Tutti and Sundae (who I always mention in my videos).

"I really look forward to every weekend and never get sick of it. I love potato bread and eat at least two bits every day.

"My goal is to find the best potato bread in Northern Ireland and to create awareness of how unique potato bread is to Northern Ireland and celebrate it as part of our cultural heritage."

Image copyright Kirsty Meredith Image caption Kirsty has sampled and rated potato bread from 66 places

Kirsty came up with the idea in 2014 when she was facing redundancy from a previous job and her mum was undergoing treatment for breast cancer.

"Instead of dwelling on all the negativity, I decided to focus on something I love - potato bread - and do something with it," she told Radio Ulster's Evening Extra programme.

"It gave me something to look forward to."

Since she began her search, Kirsty has tried various versions of the food including recipes with spelt and black pudding.

While most of us enjoy it as part of a fry-up, she has hers simply toasted without butter.

'Seasoning'

"I don't think it needs fried," she said.

"And to ensure a fair taste test, I ask for it to be toasted with no butter.

"The best flavour depends on the ratio of potato to flour, and also seasoning.

"I think potato bread gets overlooked when it comes to Irish recipes, although more and more restaurants are making it a feature of their menus.

"Some are adopting it as a starter and I've come across one restaurant that serves it with sliced beef and various garnishes."

Despite her large consumption of fadge, tattie bread or slim, as potato bread is sometimes called, Kirsty insists that her waistline hasn't suffered.

"I haven't put on any extra weight since I started," she said.

"I actually eat very healthily.

"If you look on the packaging, one piece of potato bread has just over 90 calories - that's less than a bag of crisps."