A yeast-free quick bread leavened with bicarbonate of soda reacting against buttermilk, baked in 45 minutes with a cross cut into the top. The Irish kitchen bread, every day for two hundred years.
Where to eat it: 4 restaurants across 1 city.
Soda bread became the Irish household loaf in the 1840s when bicarbonate of soda arrived in Ireland, giving cooks a quick yeast-free leavener for the rough wheat available to small farms. The brown soda variant uses wholemeal and was the working everyday loaf; the white soda variant arrived later. The cross cut into the top was practical (helps the loaf bake evenly) and superstitious (lets the fairies out). Today every Dublin restaurant serves a brown soda variant with butter; the Brazen Head, the Bretzel Bakery and the Winding Stair bake the city's references.
Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy
Tip from the editors. Do not overwork the dough; the cross-cut and the quick bake are the secret. Mix once and shape; do not knead like a yeast bread.
This is the TableJourney editorial recipe, modelled on the canonical bistro / counter version. The first place to try the dish in its city of origin is below.
The Winding Stair on Ormond Quay in Dublin 1, Elaine Murphy's upstairs dining room above the bookshop overlooking the Ha'penny Bridge and the Liffey.
Signature: Smoked Burren salmon, Irish stew, Brown bread ice cream
Order: Smoked Burren salmon, then a bowl of Irish stew with brown bread.
Tip: Window seats face the Ha'penny Bridge; book three weeks ahead for the four river-view tables. Walk through the bookshop and up.
Spitalfields on The Coombe in Dublin's Liberties, a Michelin Bib Gourmand pub-set kitchen serving the city's most considered classical Irish menu.
Signature: Tom Crean's oyster stew, Slow-cooked beef cheek, Dublin coddle
Order: The seasonal stew with soda bread, and the coddle when it lands on the daily card.
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday dinner only, 17:00 to 21:00. Walk through the public bar and ask for the back dining room.
The Brazen Head on Bridge Street Lower in Dublin 8, established 1198 as Ireland's oldest pub, the present 1754 coaching inn serves Irish stew and trad sessions nightly.
Signature drink: Guinness with an Irish stew
Food: Full Irish pub kitchen, food to 21:00
Tip: Food served until 21:00 daily; nightly trad music sessions from 21:00. The back snug holds eight; the courtyard runs summer only.
Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street in Dublin, the Ernest Bewley grand cafe since 1927, restored across three floors, the city's heritage tea-room and lunch room.
Signature drink: Bewley's coffee blend
Order: The Bewley's house blend coffee and a sticky bun; an afternoon cream tea upstairs.
Tip: Three floors; the first floor is the historic Harry Clarke window room. The basement Theatre cafe runs lunchtime plays.
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