The Loaf of the Irish

This Sunday is St. Patrick’s Day, the day people with the slightest bit of Irish ancestry (or none at all) celebrate all things green. I have very, very distant Scotch-Irish roots and have been lucky enough to travel to Ireland, so my love of all things Irish runs deep.

Not surprisingly, my favorite way to celebrate the holiday is with food. Around this time of year, you will find an abundance of corned beef, heads of cabbage and packages of all things Guiness-flavored in the stores. But you will also find Irish Soda bread, whether fresh from your favorite bakery or boxed mixes to try at home.

One of our favorite local bakeries makes Irish Soda Bread in two varieties – traditional and chocolate chip, available on limited days only the week of St. Patrick’s Day. I remember a couple of years ago, I was very excited to try the chocolate chip variety, but sadly wasn’t able to get there. I became determined to figure out how to make it at home on my own.

It turns out, Irish Soda bread is actually quite easy to make at home. This makes sense, as the bread became a staple of Ireland because of its ease and use of simple, readily available ingredients. Made using only soft wheat flour, baking soda, salt, sour milk and eggs, it could even be baked in a pot over an open hearth, not requiring an oven.

Nowadays, people add a few more ingredients and customize it to their liking. You can find a huge variance of recipes online, but they all still contain the basic ingredients – flour, baking soda, eggs, salt and now buttermilk instead of sour milk. Some recipes add sugar, raisins or currants and caraway seeds.

I have tried out a couple of varieties just this week and I have come up with a recipe that makes great plain soda bread that can be eaten with savory meals, or smeared with a golden slab of butter and topped with jam.

In case you were wondering, the cross cut into the top is both functional and symbolic. Some say the cross was to ward off evil spirits, but it could be a symbol of blessing as well. The cross also serves to penetrate into the deepest part of the bread and allow it to expand and rise.

After experimenting with adding melted butter or cutting in solid butter, I prefer the results of cutting in butter. I have also seen the light and am madly in love with Kerry Gold butter.

It really seems only appropriate to use Irish butter in your Irish soda bread. By the way, in case you didn’t know, you can get this delicious, creamy, golden butter at Aldi stores for a fraction of the cost in other stores. There’s your PSA for the day.

This really is an easy recipe and it’s extremely gratifying to make your own bread. I’m really not sure why I don’t make it more often.

If you have never made Irish Soda Bread before, give it a shot. I think you will enjoy it as much as I do.