https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/irish_soda_bread/
Going into this week’s cultural food, I was nervous. I decided to tap into my Irish roots and make Irish soda bread. I was nervous about making this recipe because baking is a lot harder than cooking, especially when you’re baking bread. Baking is an exact science whereas cooking you have more leeway with measurements and ingredients.
I had never baked bread before, but I have seen two of my cousins both experiment with making bread; one with vegan bread and the other with sourdough. The cousin making vegan bread told me all about how he had to leave the dough to rise for a few hours and the baking time had to be just right or else the texture would be messed up. My other cousin recently baked her first sourdough after months of preparing a starter. I am still not fully sure what a starter for bread is but from my understanding it is a yeast base that you have waiting in your fridge for whenever you want to make bread. She too was not successful on her first attempt.
Hearing my cousin’s horror stories with bread, I was nervous about Irish soda bread. Luckily for me, I found a recipe that does not involve yeast, which I later learned is just like all the other Irish soda bread recipes. Yeast is not involved in any Irish soda bread; the baking soda and the buttermilk are what makes the bread rise. This really simplifies things and allows for less prep time when baking Irish soda bread.
There are many variations of Irish soda bread. Some include raisins and/or caraway seeds, others don’t. I chose a recipe that included raisins but not caraway seeds because I personally do not like their flavor. There are many more cool add-ins or ways to make Irish soda bread to try, such as adding oatmeal or making biscuits out of the dough (simplyrecipes).
Irish soda bread always reminds me of Saint Patrick’s Day. Every year on Saint Patrick’s Day my mom makes corned beef and cabbage (which I don’t particularly like) and we buy Irish soda bread from the grocery store. This year I hope to make Irish soda bread not just for my family, but also for all my Irish family and friends. Next time I prepare an Irish dish I am going to attempt cottage pie. If I’m lucky, maybe the cottage pie will replace the corned beef and cabbage this Saint Patrick’s Day!
I totally felt the nerves of making bread. Making bread was on my quarantine bucket list and unfortunately I wasn’t able to check that off my list but I give you such props for doing so! I feel like to be able to make bread makes you so much more skilled lol. Extra cool that it’s a part of your family culture!
That bread looks so good! I can not imagine how hard it must have been to make. I really love this blog topic in general because I feel as if I’m experiencing your culture with you! Can’t wait for next week’s blog!
Wow, that bread looks amazing! I had never heard of Irish soda bread but it sounds delicious. I have, however, made sourdough which was really fun. I did have the help of my grandfather who is a pro in my opinion so that is probably why I didn’t fail. Great post!