Whats so Irish about soda bread?
What makes Irish soda bread Irish? Or soda bread? During the 19th century, baking soda was introduced to Ireland, and the tradition of soda bread took root, according to Ed O’Dwyer founder of The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread (sodabread.info). Irish bakers, like their European counterparts, had been producing yeasted breads for centuries, leavened either with dough left over from the last batch of bread, or a fermented starter made from barm, a byproduct of brewing. Yeast breads get their character through the action of the yeast organisms, which consume sugars in the dough and expel gas as they digest it. In a few hours, this gas expands the dough, causing it to rise. Soda bread works on an entirely different principle. The soda, sodium bicarbonate, is alkaline. When it comes into contact with an acid, much foaming and bubbling result (as you may recall from high-school chemistry). In soda bread, the acid is provided by buttermilk. When it is mixed into the dry ingr
