Irish Soda Bread
Every Irish-American family I know seems to have its own tradition of soda bread, a quick bread whose leavening comes from baking soda rather than yeast—with no two recipes just alike. This recipe is from my mother's family, the Mullallys (the stone carvers, not the funeral directors) and I don't offer it as the definitive "Irish" loaf at all. It's sweeter than most I've tasted, owing to the iberal sprinkling of butter and sugar on the top. It's the one time of year I have occasion to buy buttermilk, although the lady in front of me in line at Dave's was delighted to see I'd found the buttermilk (in fact, I'd had to request it from the dairy manager, who graciously brought some out from the back cooler) as she was shopping for her mom and was going to have to make another stop otherwise. Apparently it's good over cornbread. Can you make it with dark raisins? With less sugar or more? With ground nuts? You may, and you'll be on your way to developing your own family's tradition of soda bread. . .













