As someone who enjoys making all different types of breads (and eating them), I often make Irish soda bread for my family on St. Patrick’s Day. You don’t need to be Irish to enjoy this type of bread, and you also don’t need a lot of time or ingredients. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) serves as the leavening agent, eliminating the need for yeast or waiting for the dough to rise. When searching for a recipe, however, you may find yourself embroiled in the middle of a heated debate. Traditionalists state that authentic Irish soda should only contain four ingredients: flour, salt, buttermilk (or sour milk), and baking soda. But wait a minute, what about sugar, eggs, milk, raisins, or currants? Well, according to purists, those ingredients do not belong in a traditional Irish soda bread.
Some people take their Irish soda bread so seriously that they have created a group called “The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread”. Their stated mission is to “honor our ancestors by preserving the authenticity of this ancient recipe and educating the public on its rich history”. According to the research of Ed O’Dwyer, founder of the Society, Irish soda bread did not grow in popularity until after the tragic famine of 1845-1852, which claimed the lives of one million Irish people. Once wheat and baking soda became available after the famine, Irish soda bread became a staple on Irish tables and was a “daily bread that did not keep long and had to be baked every few days.” In the 19th century, currants did find their way into Irish breads (cakes), but this currant bread was only made on special occasions such as Christmas or Easter. On his website, O’Dwyer further states that, “There are recipes for those types of cakes (fancy at the time) but they are not the traditional soda bread eaten by the Irish daily since the mid 19th century. We honor them by making Traditional Soda Bread. Pretending that they ate fruity desserts every day is to ignore history”.
Irish-Americans may have taken a different view of the recipe. Walk into the grocery store this time of year, and the first thing you will see is a shelf of Irish soda bread containing…currants or raisins! Search the internet for Irish soda bread recipes and even many of those claiming to be “traditional” will contain currants or raisins in the ingredient lists. Personally, I myself have made this soda bread both ways and it seems to be simply a matter of choice. Jennie Field, who lives in Linwood and is of Irish descent, is no stranger to Irish-American traditions. Her daughter, Cassidy, has been performing as an Irish dancer from the ages 5 to 22. They have been to Ireland several times and Cassidy has competed in World Championships for Irish dancing. But when Jennie makes Irish soda bread, she is on Team Raisins saying, “When I make it at home, I do put raisins in it. However, when I’ve been to Ireland on several trips, they don’t seem to have raisins in it at the restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts. I think the raisins were an American twist.” Lately, Jennie has been busy working on a different Irish-American recipe, making over 100 Irish potatoes. Her kids and their friends visited last weekend and, in a matter of days, all of the Irish potatoes were all gone!
We would love to hear from our readers. Are you on Team Traditional, strictly using only four ingredients for your soda bread, or Team Currants/Raisins? Send your comments to: shorelocalgardener@gmail.com.
Tammy Thornton lives with her husband, children, and crazy pets while enjoying a life of gardening, cooking, and going to the beach.
