FOOD Irish soda bread for St Patrick’s Day

Soda bread to warm the soul


Food
Redmond Cabot

I can only imagine St Patrick ate a lot of soda bread in his day. It would have been perfect with the leek and potato soup and lamb stew he no doubt wolfed down after his 40 night spell on The Reek. Why not have a bash at making some yourself to mark the saint’s day this weekend? It’s as good an excuse as any.
Soda bread has a long tradition in Ireland. Our climate does not suit hard wheat production (which requires greater extremes of heat and cold), and historically we cooked with pots or bake stones on open fires. For these reasons, Irish bakers bypassed yeast bread until fairly recently. In soda bread, baking soda reacts with the acid in buttermilk to produce carbon dioxide, giving the desired ‘rise’.
In the North of the island people tend to cook leaner ‘Farls’, whereas in the south they cook the ‘cake’ style – bigger and rounder, with a cross on top.
Everyone should have a go at soda bread – fresh from the oven, slathered in butter, nothing will warm the heart quicker. Don’t be afraid to add your own ingredients for variation. I worked for years in a place in Dalkey where they made small soda scones with mixed herbs in them, giving fabulous colour variation to the attractive, dusty scones.
Simple soda bread
Here is a really easy recipe, great to make with kids and people suspicious of cooking. I like to use half wholemeal and half regular flour to get a ‘browny’ texture.

Ingredients

• 6 oz plain flour
• 6 oz wholemeal flour
• 1 tspn baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
• ½ pint of buttermilk
• pinch salt

Method
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl, make a hole in the middle, and pour in the buttermilk as you stir with a wooden spoon. Add a little moisture (milk or water) if you feel it’s too dry, but don’t drown it! Knead out the mix on a floured surface, getting rid of those tensions. Form the dough into a round, cake shape, and score a cross on the top with a knife.
Bake in a pre-heated, hot oven of 200 degrees for 30 mins. If you cook it fast, you get a good crust that ‘tap, taps’ when you rap your knuckles on it. When it’s out of the oven, let it dry upside down on a wire rack. You want a good crust, but not burnt, and the inside to be soft and crumbly when cold.

Tip If you don’t have buttermilk to hand you, add drops of vinegar or lemon juice to milk to achieve the same effect.

Red Cabot is interested in food, nature and small things. He sells his food at Westport Country Markets in St Ann’s Boxing Club, James’s Street car park, Westport, every Thursday, from 8am to 1pm.