[Sca-cooks] Irish Soda Bread

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Mar 18, 2010, at 12:18 PM, Johnna Holloway wrote:

> and just about anything else one can think of.  all of the above ingredients can be found in "Irish soda bread" recipes somewhere on the web.  Interesting, but definitely not Traditional Irish Soda Bread.
> 
> I liked the traditional brown bread we ate in Ireland.
> 
> Johnnae who likes a sweet version by Ed's Breads with currants which wouldn't be traditional anyplace else except in this part of Michigan

Around here the standard commercial effort contains raisins, caraway seeds. at least some butter, possibly egg, and powdered sugar on top. In other words, what is supposed to be a big sour-milk (not buttermilk, thankyewverymuch) biscuit has become essentially a large hot cross bun.

What makes all this very interesting is that I would not be at all surprised if the caraway seeds were not a throwback to putting caraway comfits in or on cakes in the UK...

I prefer unadorned brown soda bread (to go with my raw oysters and Guinness, of course!), but unfortunately there are sinister forces at work here which render it politically necessary to either produce or purchase the adulterated and lightly sweetened white-flour product. Consequently two loaves were made yesterday, one brown and one with crap in and on it...

Adamantius






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter