brown bread

Kent Whitaker who is author of this post Irish Soda Bread, also known as “The Deck Chef,” is an award-winning culinary writer and cookbook author. He’s also penned Young Reader, NASCAR, and History titles. The former winner of the Emeril Live Food Network Barbecue Contest also covers football, motorsports, and bass fishing. Kent currently lives in East Tennessee with his wife, son, and a couple of dogs that love when he fires up the smoker or grill. You can reach out to Kent at www.thedeckchef.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you’ve done any baking from scratch you know that sometimes there’s a fine art to getting yeast to activate and to get the proper rise from your loaf of bread. Or, you can forget about yeast and try your hand at a traditional Irish Soda Bread. This tasty and hearty bread is made from simple ingredients and yeast is not one of them! Baking Soda The main activator for this recipe is baking soda and is very simple to make. I have to thank my niece Tiffany who is a Southern girl and a big-time Auburn Tiger football fan. She now lives with her husband Conor and their family in Ireland. She was my go-to source for a real soda bread recipe which she credits to originally coming from the official Irish Food Board. A Bit of Brown Soda Bread Background Soda bread is a staple in Irish cooking and it’s safe to say that there are plenty of families with their own “secret” recipes. But, food historians trace the original version of the bread back to native Americans who baked a version of soda-style bread with pearl ash as an ingredient. Pearl ash is a natural form of baking soda derived from the ashes of burnt wood. This leavened the bread without yeast. Now, jump forward to the 1800s - specifically around 1830 - when baking soda, or bicarbonate soda, started to be commonly available in Ireland. This kicked off the wave of making Irish Soda bread which is known as being hearty, packed with flavor, and with a signature crusty shell with a pillow-soft interior. ???? Irish Soda Bread As I mentioned above, this recipe was provided to me by our niece Tiffany and her family in Ireland. She credits the government-run Irish Food Board for her starter recipe but mentions it is very versatile and pairs with a wide variety of dishes. But she does have her favorites. [...]