flipWheaten bread (wholemeal soda bread)
Wheaten bread (wholemeal soda bread)
Why this dish? Wholemeal soda bread is the everyday bread of Northern Ireland, simple and nourishing — exactly the frugal loaf made in a Quaker family like Jocelyn Bell's, to serve buttered with a cup of tea.
A dense, slightly sour bread made without yeast: buttermilk reacts with bicarbonate to leaven it in minutes. Cut into thick slices, buttered, sometimes with jam.
We didn't need yeast or hours of waiting: a bit of wholemeal flour, bicarbonate, and above all good buttermilk, and the bread was in the oven before we'd finished setting the table. My mother told me not to knead it too much — just gather the dough, without fussing, or it becomes heavy. Warm, with butter melting into it, that was our daily bread. Nothing more honest.
- •Wholemeal flour — large amount (rustic base)
- •White flour — small portion (structure)
- •Bicarbonate of soda — one level spoonful (leavening)
- •Buttermilk — enough to soften the dough (acidic ferment, leavening)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Wheaten bread (wholemeal soda bread)
A dense, slightly sour bread made without yeast: buttermilk reacts with bicarbonate to leaven it in minutes. Cut into thick slices, buttered, sometimes with jam.
Why this dish? Wholemeal soda bread is the everyday bread of Northern Ireland, simple and nourishing — exactly the frugal loaf made in a Quaker family like Jocelyn Bell's, to serve buttered with a cup of tea.
We didn't need yeast or hours of waiting: a bit of wholemeal flour, bicarbonate, and above all good buttermilk, and the bread was in the oven before we'd finished setting the table. My mother told me not to knead it too much — just gather the dough, without fussing, or it becomes heavy. Warm, with butter melting into it, that was our daily bread. Nothing more honest.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wholemeal flour — large amount (rustic base)
- White flour — small portion (structure)
- Bicarbonate of soda — one level spoonful (leavening)
- Buttermilk — enough to soften the dough (acidic ferment, leavening)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Wholemeal flour — 350 g (base)
- White flour (plain) — 100 g (structure)
- Bicarbonate of soda — 1 tsp (leavening)
- Buttermilk (or milk + 1 tbsp lemon juice) — 400 ml (acidic ferment)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning)
- Oat flakes — 1 tbsp (optional) (top decoration)
Method
- Preheat oven to 200°C. Mix the flours, bicarbonate and salt in a large bowl.
- Pour in the buttermilk and mix quickly by hand to a soft, sticky dough — do not knead.
- Shape into a round, place on a floured baking sheet, flatten slightly and cut a deep cross into the top.
- Scatter with oat flakes if desired and bake for 35-40 minutes: the bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.
- Cool under a clean tea towel and serve in thick slices, generously buttered.
How it was made : Soda bread was born of necessity: soft Irish flour was ill-suited to yeast, and buttermilk, a by-product of butter churning, was abundant on farms. The cross cut on top was to let out the heat — and, it was said, to chase the devil out of the bread.
The contemporary twist : Add a handful of sunflower and pumpkin seeds for a 'cosmos' bread, like a starry sky.
Sources : Florence Irwin, The Cookin' Woman: Irish Country Recipes · Darina Allen, Irish Traditional Cooking
Jocelyn Bell Burnell · Charactorium
