Irish soda bread

Lore & Background

Irish soda bread was first developed in the early 1800s using bicarbonate of soda rather than yeast as a leavener, allowing creation of bread from Ireland's low-gluten wheat. It was known in Ireland from the 1830s and was rapidly adopted because bicarbonate of soda was a reliable and rapid leavener. Contrary to some claims, bicarbonate of soda was not a significant famine relief item; soda bread's widespread adoption came after the Great Famine. By the 1860s, soda bread was the common homebaked bread across the country.

Reader's Guide

Irish soda bread's significance lies in its role as a practical solution to Ireland's agricultural limitations and its deep cultural resonance. The traditional version, made only with flour, buttermilk, salt, and baking soda, was a daily staple for most of the working class from the mid-1800s through the mid-1900s. By the mid-1900s, it was regarded as a poverty food and a reminder of the famine, but starting in the 1960s it began appearing on upscale menus and regained popularity in the early 2000s with the artisan food movement. A sweeter version with sugar, raisins, butter, and eggs, originally a special-occasion loaf, is often marketed to tourists and mistakenly thought of in the United States as the traditional Irish soda bread. The scoring of the dough into quarters before baking has both practical and cultural significance, allowing even baking and symbolically letting mischievous fairies escape.

Did You Know?

• The traditional version includes only flour, buttermilk, salt, and baking soda.
• A version with white flour, sugar, raisins, butter, and eggs was a special-occasion loaf before the mid-1900s.
• In Ireland, the sweet version is not called spotted dick or spotted dog; those terms refer to a British steamed suet pudding.
• The dough is typically not kneaded but handled as little as possible and deeply scored into quarters before baking.