Like corned beef, cabbage, and stout beer, Irish soda bread is bound to grace many American tables this St. Patrick’s Day. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a dense but tender bread with a texture like a cross between a Southern biscuit and a scone.
Soda bread is a simple, no-frills sort of food, and that’s part of its charm. It is plainly made with flour, buttermilk, baking soda, salt, and not much else.
A Quicker Bake
Soda bread first appeared in Irish kitchens about 200 years ago—as a treat for the wealthy. They could afford the luxury of wheat, while poorer people lived on oat cakes (when anything could be had at all).
Jennifer McGruther
Author
Jennifer McGruther is a nutritional therapy practitioner, herbalist, and the author of three cookbooks, including “Vibrant Botanicals.” She’s also the creator of NourishedKitchen.com, a website that celebrates traditional foodways, herbal remedies, and fermentation. She teaches workshops on natural foods and herbalism, and currently lives in the Pacific Northwest.
