Irish Soda Bread from 1836

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza | IG @worldagainstjose

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#tastinghistory #ireland #sodabread

[TastingHistory]

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[YochevedDesigns]

"A half teacup of water" brought back a lot of memories. My great grandmother's recipes called for measurements of "teacup, coffee cup, egg shell, ladle, and smidge." I'll leave it to you to figure out what the modern measurements would be! We just guessed and usually got it right. I was fortunate enough to have her in my life until I was 19, and grew up with her in the kitchen.

[emmabroughton]

My mother always called it "sod it" bread as our large family always quickly devoured our way through loaves and on a far too regular basis, she would go to the bread bin only to discover it empty and would exclaim "sod it!" and get the ingredients out to make more.
EDIT - I seem to have caused a little confusion. Oops! "Sod it!" is indeed a mild curse/expletive used in my part of the world, usually said out of frustration and resignation. Mum frequently made up soda bread as it was much quicker and easier than regular, yeasted loaves. I'm delighted that you all love this funny memory. 😃

[jamesmurray]

Born and raised here in Ireland. We still make soda bread fairly frequently. There are some sources which say that the cutting of the cross into the top of the bread just before baking is to release the "fairies" (Irish fairies are nothing like tinkerbells, our "fairies" tend to be called names such as the other crowd, the good folk, the sidhe (pronounced like "the she") etc and they could mess you up. There's a huge portion of Irish folklore dedicated t9 stories of the sidhe).

Also, when my grandmother used to make soda bread, she'd often serve it with a fry (sausage, rashers, black pudding, white pudding, fried egg etc) and she'd then fry slices of soda bread in the frying pan once the fry was done.
Fried soda bread is incredible 🤤

[TheAbstruseOne]

One note about the buttermilk: If you ever read a recipe before about 1900-1920 that calls for "buttermilk", it doesn't mean modern buttermilk. It means the liquid left over after churning butter. It's thinner, doesn't have fat (as that's all gone into the butter), and it has a lot of lactic acid. Modern buttermilk is cultured whole milk which is much thicker, has fat, and is more consistent (as traditional buttermilk can be different depending on how much fat was churned into the butter). Traditional buttermilk is still available if a bit hard to find as it's commonly used in foods from the Near East and India.

So if anyone out there is ever cooking an old recipe using buttermilk and it's just not turning out right, it's likely wanting traditional buttermilk rather than modern buttermilk.

[respther]

My in-laws were from Galway and my mother in law made the best Irish soda bread! 🍀

[deborahharding]

Back in the 70s, my friend loved keeping chickens but didn't like eggs. So every weekend we would gather and she would bake to use up the eggs. Irish soda bread was at the top of her list, and the second was Moravian sugar cake. If you ever come across a recipe for the latter, I'd love to see a video of it. We've lost touch, & I don't have the recipe anymore. It's scrumptious!

[rhiahlMT]

I have a recipe for "Irish" soda bread that was given to me by an Irish Grandma, not my Grandma. It is the 'fly' style you mentioned, the way immigrants to US made it. It's really good. My boys are asking for it along with Chef John's (here on YouTube) Guinness Beef Stew. I was surprised years after I got the recipe in the 1970s to see it show up on Food Network. So, must've been pretty common. Anyway, here it is for modern cooks.

Irish Soda Bread
5 c. sifted all purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
2 1/2 cups of raisins (soaked in water for 15 minutes, drained)
3 Tbs, caraway seeds
1 egg
2 1/2 c. buttermilk
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in the butter until grainy. Stir in the caraway seeds and raisins. Add the buttermilk and egg and stir until well moistened. Split in two and put into 9x5 loaf pans sprayed with PAM or buttered. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Test for doneness with toothpick or fork. Cool in pans for 3 - 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.

[agentsculder]

I was in Ireland six months ago, and you are 100% right about soda bread being different there. We also found that in many places they add leftover oatmeal (made from whole, Irish oats). It's really yummy with lots of butter on it.

[stepps]

Not just the food, but, as always, totally fascinating history! I'm glad the intimate rubbing passed the YouTube censors! 😜

[reverend]

honestly, I had a bad week with some medical emergencies in my family and a ton of stress at work so far...but watching Max talk about bread is kinda like balm for the soul. not exactly sure why, but it's the highlight of tuesdays.

[yiraw]

Yeah soda bread is still a classic all round Ireland now. It's extremely common to get soda bread included with soup if you get soup at a cafe or restaurants.

[saladiniv]

DO NOT USE non food grade sodium carbonate for baking. there are little to no regulations on what impurities it can contain. it probably won't kill you, but depending on the manufacturing method it may contain some pretty nasty stuff.

[tana]

Irish soda bread was the first bread I’ve ever made! Baking bread is honestly so satisfying. Watching this dough transform into bread and rise in the oven felt like the most magical thing. I was smiling for a week thinking about how proud I was for making bread 😂 it was actually very delicious and tasted like a biscuit bread! The most flavorful bread I’ve made. I used bigger bolder baking’s recipe.

[Tom-ldkh]

Hi Max, I have a suggestion for you for an episode - In ancient Rome an anise-flavored cake called mustaceum was popular at the end of a lavish dinner. It is considered a forerunner of the traditional spicy wedding cake often served in England.

[jessiegrider]

When I was a kid, I read a story about a little boy finding a four leaf shamrock. He was being teased because he didn't want to walk far. He wanted to go with his siblings to look for Shamrocks to sell in town, but They ended up having to pull him on a cart. They thought he was too little to be of much use and not paying much attention. At one point, he eats "the crusty corner of his Granny's Irish soda bread" that was his favorite part. But his siblings teased him, saying, "Are you lazy because you are so fat, or are you so fat because you are so lazy?" At the end of the story, when he finds the shamrock, he proves he has been paying attention. A real leprechaun appears to fulfill his wishes. He wishes not for his own desires but wishes what his Granny said she would wish for, "Aye, a full sod house, a full pantry and Me granny's broach she lost that she's always lamenting for." Now I wonder if the crusty corners of bread are his favorite parts and having a full party and sod house and happy Granny meant Paul would have plenty of that.

[KenJohnsonUSA]

I always love this sort of stuff! I remember the elders in my tribe talking about how they'd sometimes leaven bread. They said they'd take about 2 pillowcases worth of dry bean hulls and burn them in a pot until they got about a large baby food jar amount of ash. This whitish-gray ash would then be added to bread much like the Irish did with their soda bread. The flour would either be made with nixified corn, wild potatoes, leached acorn meal, or a meal made from a certain aquatic lilly during times of no corn. This flour would be beaten by a cornbeater process using a hollowed out hickory log with a long wooden beating instrument. So, I can see where the chemical leavening would be beneficial.

[allsnuggedup]

As someone both from Enniskillen and interested in history and food, I'll definitely be trying this version!

[hbrunet]

My aunt, who lived in Northern Ireland after marrying my uncle who was Northern Irish, would often make soda bread the same way as they do over there. It is something that I never actually learned how to make myself, as I would always ask her to make it for me. So thank you for doing this video! Now I can make it for myself - My aunt passed away in 2019 so this will be a wonderful way to honor her memory! ❣🥰

[sophiejune]

I always make Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day so this is perfect timing for me!
I usually have my soda bread with really sharp Irish cheese so the mild flavor of the bread works.