Sign up for a SIGNED BOOKPLATE here (Preorders at any retailer in the US only) - www.simonandschuster.com/p/tasting-history-sweeps For signed copies of the TASTING HISTORY COOKBOOK: Changing Hands (US Only): www.changinghands.com/book/9781982186180 Diesel Bookstore (US & International): www.dieselbookstore.com/tasting-history-signed Other US Options: bit.ly/3GHL7wC
I absolutely would have loved a book, but the shipping to Australia was insane at $ 65 USD when the book is more than a half less than that, and on a fixed income with my wife looking after our terminally ill child. I just couldn't bring myself to purchase it. Perhaps in time when my circumstances change. But really, I've never seen such a crazy shipping rate from the US. Keep doing what you do Max, your videos are a fleeting moment of reprieve for me in my day. Much love, stay safe, and stay awesome.
@@mwethereld wow,I hope everything in your life gets better and I’m so sorry for the situation with your child’s sickness,I hope for nothing but the best for you and your family
"A half teacup of water" brought back a lot of memories. My great grandmother's recipes called for measurements of "teacup, coffee cup, egg shell, ladle, and smidge." I'll leave it to you to figure out what the modern measurements would be! We just guessed and usually got it right. I was fortunate enough to have her in my life until I was 19, and grew up with her in the kitchen.
If I had to make estimates, I'd probably go with the following Coffee cup: 1 pint, or two cups Teacup: 1 cup Ladle: 1/2 cup, or 4 oz Eggshell: 1/4 cup or 2 oz Smidge: a pinch, or 1/4 tsp
I’d assume a tea cup is half a cup, a coffee serving is generally 6, but the cup up itself is 8, an egg is about an oz to an oz and a half liquid, modern ones are closer to 2 My 80yo silver ladle is 6 oz 😂 smidge is a bit more than a pinch, but less than a dash. My grandmother taught me to cook, she generally just measured with her hands, and I’m the only one who can figure out her recipe box these days
Those old fashioned recipes ♥️ My grandma has a cake recipe that calls for a small breakfast cup of milk and I can't for the life of me work out what that would be today. Was an amazing cake though and my mum still makes it sometimes. She can only make it though cuz she inherited the exact cup my grandma used to make it.
My grandma used modern measurements but one of my favorite bits was, when I was about 7 she taught me to make pie crusts from scratch, and there’s a part of the dry ingredients that gets separated and mixed with water. Grandma said to mix it „until it’s about like newspaper paste,“ and through the years if I mentioned making a pie crust she would reiterate that advice. Finally, in my mid-twenties I had to admit, „you know Grandma, I‘ve never seen newspaper paste. The only thing I know about it is that it’s apparently about the same thickness as the flour and water mix in your pie crust recipe!“ she got a good chuckle out of that!
Coffee cups are tiny(traditional English ones,so Coffee cup-half a tea cup Teacup-third of a pint Ladle-one third less than a teacup Eggshell-two rounded(not heaped)tablespoons Smidge-a pinch or small blob
My mother always called it "sod it" bread as our large family always quickly devoured our way through loaves and on a far too regular basis, she would go to the bread bin only to discover it empty and would exclaim "sod it!" and get the ingredients out to make more. EDIT - I seem to have caused a little confusion. Oops! "Sod it!" is indeed a mild curse/expletive used in my part of the world, usually said out of frustration and resignation. Mum frequently made up soda bread as it was much quicker and easier than regular, yeasted loaves. I'm delighted that you all love this funny memory. 😃
Thank you for sharing your memory with us. I love little snippets of memories, of others. Always interesting, and more often then not, very funny, as is yours. TY again.
Born and raised here in Ireland. We still make soda bread fairly frequently. There are some sources which say that the cutting of the cross into the top of the bread just before baking is to release the "fairies" (Irish fairies are nothing like tinkerbells, our "fairies" tend to be called names such as the other crowd, the good folk, the sidhe (pronounced like "the she") etc and they could mess you up. There's a huge portion of Irish folklore dedicated t9 stories of the sidhe). Also, when my grandmother used to make soda bread, she'd often serve it with a fry (sausage, rashers, black pudding, white pudding, fried egg etc) and she'd then fry slices of soda bread in the frying pan once the fry was done. Fried soda bread is incredible 🤤
Thanks for enlightenment of the outsiders on what the sidhe are. First time I was in rural Cork and Kerry, where my folk are from, I was surprised to be treated hesitantly by some of the older people. Then it was explained in a quiet way that because of my clan history I was presumed to not be fully human but partly if Sidhe ancestry. My tribe has ruled over the Southwest for several millenia and their are certain weirdxthings and customs I was aware of growing up, but that was a little surprising. Even I avoid the old sites on a dark night. Don't sleep in a fairy ring and carry some food in your pockets lest you starve from walking across a Famine mass grave.
I often do a fry here in the states for my mother and myself, and there's not much better anywhere. I always cut a cross, but Mamaw said it was to let the devil out, nothing to do with the fair folk. I'll take my bread fried or with butter, either way.
I inexplicably love Irish people. A lot of American people do. We just inherintely do. I have no explanation. Maybe because a lot of our blood hales from there. Anyway, we love you
One note about the buttermilk: If you ever read a recipe before about 1900-1920 that calls for "buttermilk", it doesn't mean modern buttermilk. It means the liquid left over after churning butter. It's thinner, doesn't have fat (as that's all gone into the butter), and it has a lot of lactic acid. Modern buttermilk is cultured whole milk which is much thicker, has fat, and is more consistent (as traditional buttermilk can be different depending on how much fat was churned into the butter). Traditional buttermilk is still available if a bit hard to find as it's commonly used in foods from the Near East and India. So if anyone out there is ever cooking an old recipe using buttermilk and it's just not turning out right, it's likely wanting traditional buttermilk rather than modern buttermilk.
Disagree- no it wasn’t modern buttermilk: But it was clabber. Clabbered milk is unpasteurized milk kept cool until it soured and clotted to a firm sour cream consistency (without separating into curds and whey) they used that. Never heard of using what you said- doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. ❤
A very good post. The buttermilk from making sweet cream butter is not fit for anything but pig feed. Before refrigeration butter was sour cream butter The milk was allowed to ferment, the cream skimmed off the clabber and churned. The butter didn't go rancid as fast as sweet cream butter. This buttermilk was widely drunk by everyone. Before carbonated drinks highly acidic drinks were used. The clabber is what you call yogurt. My Grandmothers made cottage cheese for the table.And baby chick food. The clabber and. a little whey made a nice refreshinng snack. Vinegar was made from wine,, apple and other. fruit juices. The acidic content of.thisvinegar varied widely. The milder vinegar was widely used as a refreshing drink or miixed with gall to make a stimulating and refreshing drink. Anybody see where this is going? Oh, Google it.
The poster kitkatkitter is wrong. I am 83 years old and was the cow milker and maker of all things milk. We lived in rural Arkansas with no electricity so no refrigeration.
Back in the 70s, my friend loved keeping chickens but didn't like eggs. So every weekend we would gather and she would bake to use up the eggs. Irish soda bread was at the top of her list, and the second was Moravian sugar cake. If you ever come across a recipe for the latter, I'd love to see a video of it. We've lost touch, & I don't have the recipe anymore. It's scrumptious!
Moravian sugar cake is really good. There’s also a Moravian apple cake that’s really, really good. My Mom had given me a Moravian cook book for xmass one year and all the recipes I did make from it were very delicious. I hope he does your request. I’d like to know more history about their cakes, or desserts in general even. It seems Moravians have much holiday tradition centered around food.
I have a recipe for "Irish" soda bread that was given to me by an Irish Grandma, not my Grandma. It is the 'fly' style you mentioned, the way immigrants to US made it. It's really good. My boys are asking for it along with Chef John's (here on TH-cam) Guinness Beef Stew. I was surprised years after I got the recipe in the 1970s to see it show up on Food Network. So, must've been pretty common. Anyway, here it is for modern cooks. Irish Soda Bread 5 c. sifted all purpose flour 3/4 c. sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 1 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 1/4 pound (1 stick) butter 2 1/2 cups of raisins (soaked in water for 15 minutes, drained) 3 Tbs, caraway seeds 1 egg 2 1/2 c. buttermilk Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in the butter until grainy. Stir in the caraway seeds and raisins. Add the buttermilk and egg and stir until well moistened. Split in two and put into 9x5 loaf pans sprayed with PAM or buttered. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Test for doneness with toothpick or fork. Cool in pans for 3 - 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.
@@iwannanumber Yep, it's really good. I can't have it any longer because of diabetes so I'll make it for my grown sons to take home for St. Patrick's Day.
@@renebrock4147 It could be. I was given the recipe and told it was Irish Soda bread all those years ago. Although, I've always considered it a rather upscale version. I've used other recipes for soda bread that weren't as elaborate over the years.
I was in Ireland six months ago, and you are 100% right about soda bread being different there. We also found that in many places they add leftover oatmeal (made from whole, Irish oats). It's really yummy with lots of butter on it.
Yeah soda bread is still a classic all round Ireland now. It's extremely common to get soda bread included with soup if you get soup at a cafe or restaurants.
Ok, this video hit many points for me. I am first generation Irish in America. My mother made soda bread for my WHOLE(!!) childhood, usually with raisins (related to your currents point). Wasn't until I was off to college for a few years that I started to crave it. Planning a trip home and Ma asked what i wanted stocked in the house. (Yes, she was a great mom.) And I said....SODA BREAD PLEASE!!! Seems, in the mean time all my siblings had moved out. In the time there were not kids in house, Ma had not made any soda bread....and her response was..."Oh, I think I forgot how." SHE NEVER WROTE IT DOWN!!!! I have been hunting for soda bread information since the EARLY 90's!!! This video makes a lot of thing more clear and tells me how my mother probably adapted her recipe for America!!! THANK YOU MAX!!!
My kids always have appreciated what I make and I, too, always ask what they’d like me to make when they come home. Their frustration? When they ate it they always asked if I wrote it down (usually I didn’t) until they’d finally ask and then immediately answer themselves with “no you didn’t!” I have made a concerted effort to do that along with any variations as I often use what’s on hand or try a different twist on something . Make sure you do that because it will be appreciated, believe me.
I would watch as a kid my grandma and great grandma who lived to 102 make pasta from scratch, great grandma was italian and that entire side of the family was honestly and she also cooked epic veal and many other foods. My grandmas cousin who is in his 80's like grandma is makes italian sausages from scratch by hand and they are amazing.
honestly, I had a bad week with some medical emergencies in my family and a ton of stress at work so far...but watching Max talk about bread is kinda like balm for the soul. not exactly sure why, but it's the highlight of tuesdays.
I always love this sort of stuff! I remember the elders in my tribe talking about how they'd sometimes leaven bread. They said they'd take about 2 pillowcases worth of dry bean hulls and burn them in a pot until they got about a large baby food jar amount of ash. This whitish-gray ash would then be added to bread much like the Irish did with their soda bread. The flour would either be made with nixified corn, wild potatoes, leached acorn meal, or a meal made from a certain aquatic lilly during times of no corn. This flour would be beaten by a cornbeater process using a hollowed out hickory log with a long wooden beating instrument. So, I can see where the chemical leavening would be beneficial.
You know who else has acorn bread and pancakes? The Korean grocery... It is fascinating how faraway cultures will use similar ingredients and foods, but everybody has their own spin. Bean hulls, huh? I can see where that would be less messy than wood ash, for one thing.
@@suburbanbanshee wood ash wasbused to nixify the corn. I really don't know why bean hulls were considered ideal for leavening. What I have learned is the elders knew more about science than what we think they knew. How they learned it is just mind boggling.
@@gwennorthcutt421 the reason for my question was that my people didn't raise livestock. Moreover, we cooked dried bean hulls with beans...the dish later being called "leather breaches" because of the leathery texture of the dried bean hulls.
I love learning about stuff like this. Even before people had a scientific understanding of why things worked, they were creating chemical reactions with the resources they had and producing tasty, nutritious foods. A bread made from wild potatoes and acorn meal sounds so intriguing to me--I'd love to try some.
DO NOT USE non food grade sodium carbonate for baking. there are little to no regulations on what impurities it can contain. it probably won't kill you, but depending on the manufacturing method it may contain some pretty nasty stuff.
When I was a kid, I read a story about a little boy finding a four leaf shamrock. He was being teased because he didn't want to walk far. He wanted to go with his siblings to look for Shamrocks to sell in town, but They ended up having to pull him on a cart. They thought he was too little to be of much use and not paying much attention. At one point, he eats "the crusty corner of his Granny's Irish soda bread" that was his favorite part. But his siblings teased him, saying, "Are you lazy because you are so fat, or are you so fat because you are so lazy?" At the end of the story , when he finds the shamrock, he proves he has been paying attention. A real leprechaun appears to fulfill his wishes. He wishes not for his own desires but wishes what his Granny said she would wish for, "Aye, a full sod house, a full pantry and Me granny's broach she lost that she's always lamenting for." Now I wonder if the crusty corners of bread are his favorite parts and having a full party and sod house and happy Granny meant Paul would have plenty of that.
Oh I remember this story! My Nan has it and a bunch of different stories from different countries in an old book she had for years! It's part of a book series called Childcraft?
@@cringeassnaenaerabbit5203 Yes! it's Childcraft - The How And Why Library - Volume 3 - Children Everywhere. My family still owns the 1976 set. It's the very first story: _The Three Wishes_ (Ireland) by Patricia Lynch, Illustrations by Rowel Frier.
You've misremembered some of the details, but to be expected. It was winter and Paul's older brother did not want to pull him around because it was meant for Paul when he was a lot smaller. The older sister that dotes on Paul however talks him into it, though the brother still complains while glaring at him. Left behind sheltered from the wind so he wouldn't slow them down, Paul ends up rolling out of the cart and ends up in the middle of a mossy patch with somehow no snow on it and a single four-leaf clover. He picks the clover and recalling Granny's stories, decides his first wish to be three more for his grandma and siblings, which instantly appears. It is then that he's confronted by an old leprechaun with a tiny hammer: the patch is his garden and Paul is trespassing (think 'cranky old man' and you've got the attitude). Paul decides to ignore him and reaches for the new clovers, but the owner decides to make him a deal: if he doesn't take the clovers, he can keep the one he has, and make his wishes now. Of course, Paul is a little kid and when he takes too long trying to think of good wishes for the leprechaun's liking, he gets exasperated and, being familiar with Paul's family makes a wish for him, 'a full sod house, a full pantry and your granny's broach she lost that she's always lamenting', and then with a "NOW GET OUT OF ME GARDEN!" shoves the kid off his property, which promptly disappears. Paul's siblings return to find him with the clover. The brother is sure Paul wouldn't wish for anything worthwhile. On the way home, Paul quietly repeats the wish the leprechaun made for him under his breath. At home, their granny shows them, yes, a full sod house, and a full pantry; the brother is speechless while looking at Paul. On resting her hand on the kitchen table, the grandmother suddenly feels something under it: her crystal broach with its distinctive four-leaf clover embedded in the heart.
Fascinating - I never knew that soda bread in the USA was different to the kind I'm used to. Incidentally, my Irish in-laws only call the kind made with white flour "soda bread"; the kind made with wholemeal flour (ideally stoneground) is always "wheaten bread", and it is very delicious. You can sometimes get it even in English supermarkets.
It might depend on where your in laws came from. Here, in Fermanagh soda bread is white, wheaten is whole meal. My wife is from Mayo and down there I get laughed at for calling it wheaten.
Hi Max, I have a suggestion for you for an episode - In ancient Rome an anise-flavored cake called mustaceum was popular at the end of a lavish dinner. It is considered a forerunner of the traditional spicy wedding cake often served in England.
Irish soda bread was the first bread I’ve ever made! Baking bread is honestly so satisfying. Watching this dough transform into bread and rise in the oven felt like the most magical thing. I was smiling for a week thinking about how proud I was for making bread 😂 it was actually very delicious and tasted like a biscuit bread! The most flavorful bread I’ve made. I used bigger bolder baking’s recipe.
Like you it was the first savory bread I baked. So easy, so good. Love the BBB video for traditional Irish soda bread. My recipe is a combo of her's and Darina Allen's.
do you have any tips for "getting bread right" ? I have tried to make it half a dozen times now but seem to always go wrong no matter what recepie i try
@@Whocareslol hi there! First of all, I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had much luck. I’m a complete beginner. And when I say that I mean it because this is the first and only recipe I’ve tried. I highly recommend it because I messed up and the recipe still turned out well. The recipe said to only put about 70% of the liquid in, but I didn’t see that and poured all the water in causing my dough to be wet. Then I freaked out and added copious amounts of flour to fix it which led to me mixing a LOT. To make things more stressful, the recipe explicitly said to not overmix. Despite all of these mistakes, my bread still turned out incredibly delicious! I highly recommend this recipe if you’ve had lots of bad luck: th-cam.com/video/r9gcytz6LXA/w-d-xo.html May I ask what types of bread you’ve had little success making and what happened? Irish soda bread is a quick bread AND it’s no knead so you should give it a try if you’ve only tried yeast leavened bread or knead bread.
@@Whocareslol What goes wrong? Is it too dry, does it not rise? Tips: Don't knead it like yeast bread, just pull it together. Use full fat buttermilk. Use fresh baking powder. Don't overbake, it cooks quickly. Don't look for a brown crust.
@@napoleonfeanor I think it’s more regional variation. Here (Fermanagh) soda is white and wheaten is whole meal, further south you get brown soda which is basically the same as wheaten.
@@ballagh Thanks for explaining. Does Irish cuisine have strong regional variations? In my fatherland, we do have strong regional differences, especially between Northern flatlands and the mountainous South (especially Austro-Bavarian).
@@napoleonfeanor there are still pockets of variation, for example things like soda farls, a variation of soda bread are really an Ulster thing, while boxty, a sort of potato cake thing is north Connaught/ west Ulster. There are little variations like that across the island although the supermarket culture is tending to homogenise it somewhat. Hopefully the rise of niche or artisan foods will help keep the traditional recipes alive alongside the older home producers.
We still use Hartshorn Salt here in Sweden, especially when making "mandelkubb" and "drömmar". It's used foremost for cookies, as it makes the cookies very crumbly. It does not leave any taste.
My aunt, who lived in Northern Ireland after marrying my uncle who was Northern Irish, would often make soda bread the same way as they do over there. It is something that I never actually learned how to make myself, as I would always ask her to make it for me. So thank you for doing this video! Now I can make it for myself - My aunt passed away in 2019 so this will be a wonderful way to honor her memory! ❣🥰
I always make Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day so this is perfect timing for me! I usually have my soda bread with really sharp Irish cheese so the mild flavor of the bread works.
@@xander1052 Lol I'm Married to French woman and living in france, made soda bread once and now I have to make it at least once a month. Last halloween I made a barmbrack now I've two different loaves to make each month for us and the inlaws. TBH next time I go for fresh yeast I might have a go at a Doherty's plain loaf 🤣
That's a good idea! I think I'll get some to go with the soda bread too. As long as I make 2 loaves, because 1 always disappears with the corned beef & cabbage! Not sure how Irish it is (probably not very) but it is delicious and I get compliments any time I make it, so that works for me.
@@jooleebilly full bellies make for happy faces, doesn't really matter the origin. I think it's an american thing, not sure if it was on this channel that it was explained but I know in Ireland beef was exported and either forbidden to be bought or too expensive. And I think in New york etc Irish and Jewish quarters were apparently close together and their butchers don't carry pork so beef it was.
This reminds me of wacky cake, which is a chocolate cake popularized during the great depression made with no butter, eggs, or milk and uses baking soda and vinegar as a rising agent. It makes a deliciously moist cake and it's my family's go-to chocolate cake recipe so I grew up not thinking much of it until my friend was watching me make it one day and was extremely alarmed when she saw me pouring vinegar into my cake batter lol
I just wanted to give a sincere thank you for what you do. You've reignited my love of history, teaching history through food has made it feel so approachable and has let me feel a special connection to people of times long past. The universal nature of food has really helped humanize and empathize the struggles and daily lives of ancient people for me.
Oh yes! I am hosting a little dinner TODAY w/irish immigrant food in celebration of Paddy's Day. The recipe I copied from the net years past was this exact one, Farmer's Magazine, Nov 1836. A million times, thank you! Definitely going to try the sodium carbonate shift.
Great video - one thing I would add here, I was reading Joyce's Ulysses the other day and came across the word 'farl', Anyway when you were making the bread you created a cross to divide it in 4. Well... a farl, as I found out, is quater-circle of soda bread.
Growing up, I always called my mom's best friends my aunties. One of my aunties is an absolutely wonderful woman who is a second generation irish immigrant, her parents both immigrated here in the 60's and even started a massive community here in my home town based around celebrating irish heritage. Her mom used to make the absolute best irish soda bread. Thank you so much for making this video, as her mom passed on new years this year. All I've really been wanting since I last saw hwe was another piece of her city famous Soda Bread. Maybe now I can make it close to how she did. :)
Words cannot express how much I have learned from your videos. Thank you so much for all of the passion and hard work that you put into this channel. That being said, I've been craving cheese steak lately. I couldn't find any "old" recipes on it, but I can't believe that the first time someone put steak and cheese on bread was in 1930. I hope you can find some interesting history on that.
I love the Azumarill in the back lol 🐰💙. Congrats on your book being published! I love your channel and the effort and research that goes into each one of your videos ☺️ I always watch the episodes while eating/having dinner so that I eat more deliciously my meal and learn something new while at it because I also love history :)
@@cassimcguire7557 I would think it's because Azumarill is the aqua rabbit pokemon/apparently based on a rabbit and easter is close, and the Easter bunny and all that :), and it could be this bread is/was more commonly eaten around this time of the year, from some comments below I've gathered many people prepare it for saint Patrick's day :).
re: the maillard reaction thing, this is why i add the *slightest* amount of baking soda to onions if i'm trying to caramelize them. like if i'm making fajitas and frying off sliced onion and pepper, i'll sprinkle maybe 1/8th tsp baking soda in and give it a stir. just helps things to brown and caramelize a little quicker.
Another Tasting History video, to save the day :D thank you so much, it gave me energy for the rest of the workday. Lots of love from the country of Schnitzel and Kipferl 💚💚
@@TastingHistory It's so worth it, the whole story with Cotoletta alla milanese and the division between Schnitzel lovers is pure drama xD But I can also highly recommend recipes from my heritage romania! Sarmale and Ciorba are an absolute win 🤩 Thanks for being awesome🥰
Nuts and seeds go really well in soda bread - I was recently taught a super simple recipe with broken up walnuts, pumpkin seeds and if you'd like a bit of sweetness, hopped medjool dates work really well also. Sprinkle oats on top before baking as well. An ample layer of butter on warm/toasted slices helps. Super filling stuff!
Harthorn salt is used in a lot of traditional Swedish cookies, perhaps you could make a video about the Swedish tradition of 'seven small cookies' to be consumed during that most Swedish of meals, the fika or kafferep. A history of fika would be interesting as well.
It's always great seeing videos including some of my favorite foods. There was an Irish couple who used to be my neighbors who'd bake us a loaf of soda bread around Christmas every year. We'd always return the favor with Oliebollen or Banket.
Dutch oven baking skills are a joy to see. Mainly, because to be good at it, you have to be able to judge temperature by touch and eye, as well as experience. I've quite enjoyed watching camp cooking videos by people who bake a LOT with dutch ovens. You can make everything in a dutch oven. Breads, deserts (including cakes), stews, roasts, etc. Plus, you can also just use it as a cooking pot. And if you get really creative, you can use the lid as a makeshift frying pan! Truly a wonderful cooking utensil. And if you take care of a good cast iron dutch oven, your children, and your children's children could still be using that oven long after you are done with it. ^-^
Good morning, Max! I think this is the earliest I think I've caught one of your videos. I just wanted to say how much I enjoy the content you produce. I've been watching your channel since very early on. I appreciate the effort you put into your content. You are one of my favorite youtube creators ever. Kudos to you!
I make soda bread every year for st patty’s day - the recipe I use calls for wrapping the warm baked bread in tin foil (specifically) and letting it sit for at least overnight before serving. This enhances the buttermilk flavor :)
@@cacamilis8477 thanks, but I’m in the US, and St Patty’s is acceptable here, as it’s short for PATrick. I’ll make sure to correct my autocorrect if I’m ever in Ireland.
I'd definitely encourage you to get more into bread baking, my step dad does it as his main hobby and it's kinda insane how good bread can taste, especially when fresh
As you enter the evening banquet at Bunratty Castle in County Clare you are greeted at the door by folk in medieval garb whereupon you receive a small square of soda bread with only a pinch of salt sprinkled on it.
Cornbread is also a type of soda bread, I suppose, since it uses a combination of baking soda and buttermilk for leavening, instead of yeast. Also "rub up all intimately together" is going to be living rent-free in my head 😅
Any chance we could get a video or two of your and Jose's favorite family recipes or like your favorite meals growing up? It'd be really great around mother's day or father's day and I think I can safely say that we love getting to know more about you two!
My family has a recipe handed down and it’s definitely the Americanized version. Lots of milk and raisins. Something I always look forward to on St. Paddy’s Day 😋 So cool to see this other version as it is so different. I also have to agree, the butter helps even with our version. Can’t go wrong with a generous amount of butter paired with soda bread.
Thank you for this video! I have a story about baking soda bread in a Dutch Oven. So, I do historical reenactments and we always are cooking for them. We decided to try making soda bread for St. Patrick's Day a few years back. We found a receipt and mixed it up, put it into the Dutch Oven with coals on the bottom and on the top, and let it bake. We tested it after the top looked nice and firm (it even make that pleasant thumping sound). My best friend went to turn it out onto to a dish from the baking dish that we had it in and..... lava hot soda bread "batter" all over her, the table, the stone hearth. We haven't tried making it again since! Except we ARE going to try again next week at Frontier Food Night at Old City Park. Hope you don't mind that we'll be using your Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe and this one for dinner that night. :) Tammy from Cook Like a Celt
"Rub up all intimately together. OOOH, YEEEAAH!" could be the new "Hardtack" going forward. We need a new bread-related gag for this show because a lot of unusual humour can be derived from the act of baking bread.
Absolutely fell in love with Irish soda bread with loads of deep yellow Irish butter when on our vacation there. We actually thought the food in general in Ireland was amazing - certainly nothing like the reputation it had. Amazing bread, butter, cheese, lamb, beef, seafood, vegetables, soups, chowders, stews.
The bakery around me adds caraway seeds to their soda bread. It was very weird for me at first, but I absolutely love it. I'll have to try this recipe myself.
I can't believe you spent a fortune on the Odlums flour, next time I'll just post some to you sham! I don't enjoy cooking, and I have a bad relationship with food with my mental health, but your videos are always so interesting and fun!
You mention the Moroccan way of cooking a similar bread but it might be interesting to get a video on a soda farl, a variation of soda bread cooked on a hot plate, traditionally over an open fire. Best served as a split soda with bacon and a fried egg inside. Btw great old picture of Enniskillen from Portora, it’s strange to think Beckett and Wilde were both familiar with that view. (Edit to add - a soda farl is probably the single ingredient that divides an ulster fry from a breakfast fry of English, Irish, or Scottish variations or even a mixed grill. Almost all the other ingredients turn up elsewhere but half a fried soda is ours alone.
I live in Northern Ireland and what you made is known here as wheaten bread while modern soda bread is lighter and thicker and a bit dryer. While it doesn't have much flavor, I like the texture of it. My great grandparents were farmers and my great-grandmother used to make wheaten and soda bread in the 1930s-50s and would give it out to their neighbours. My mother learned to make both the old style or wheaten bread and soda bread and I learned how to make it from her. I have sometimes made soda bread pizza by making modern soda bread, slicing it and adding tomato paste, cheese, a couple of toppings on one side of it and baking it in the oven. My mum also used to make treacle soda, soda bread with treacle in the dough and I have seen variations on it in local bakeries, some with Guinness in it.
When my morning sickness was getting very bad my mom made me Irish soda bread, like her father did for her, because it’s so inoffensive. I couldn’t eat because it was too flavourful and I couldn’t keep down the bite I had… that’s when we knew I needed to go to the doctor 😂
Irish and have been living in the country for about 10 years now but you could get it in Dublin NP. You can buy this bread in most shops and bakeries with a few people even making their own due to the ease and how quickly it fills you up. Few slices of that with butter in the oven until the crust is just starting to burn and a big mug of tea is a great way to start the day :)
Just moved across country to where my majority Irish immigrant family lives and my great aunt had some imported Irish soda bread (in loaf form) for sandwiches. It was the first time I had ever had it and it was nice! She also makes a lot fresh this time of year for the older folks in the family who still remember growing up with their families making it the classic way back in Ireland.
Since you mentioned odlums, they make a pre-mixed soda bread mix, which you only need to add milk to. It’s amazing. I can’t make bake at all but it always comes out perfect. Odlums isn’t expensive here in Ireland so I expect the expense for you would have been shipping 😅
When you took out the baked bread, it reminded me of my nana baking bread in her kitchen. The bread might not have a lot of flavour, but with some good quality butter, there’s nothing better. Love your channel 🇮🇪
We’ve actually used a traditional dutch oven while camping a few times! It’s a neat way to cook, and surprisingly versatile, and while there’e definitely some trial and error involved in getting things to cook evenly, it’s worth trying if you can. We usually ended up making a delicious pineapple upside-down cake in ours. Also, it you are going to try it, you need a heavy duty cast iron dutch oven with feet, to allow for air flow. A kitchen dutch oven wouldn’t work.
I am glad you mentioned the flavor of the soda bread, which is the real reason to add extra salt sugar, currants, caraway, butter, etc. It is pretty austere without the extras. That is why muffins, scones, and other quick breads are usually sweeter.
I was never exposed to this before moving to Boston. I sincerely hope your version tasted a lot better than any I've had. I guess if you were starving it would taste good.
I found a recipe for soda bread by Irish cooking show host Monica Sheridan in her cookbook (in fact, the recipe was even reprinted on the dust jacket). It came out more like a scone and very crumbly. Once I unpack from my move, I'll locate the book again and compare notes on her version versus modern versus more traditional. Thanks for reminding me of it.
When I went to Ireland I liked soda bread at first, but man does it get old after having it a couple times. It was to the point where I was ready to ask for regular bread at many restaurants.
This year upon inspecting a box of beignet mix I have that I got online while it was on sale I have determined that the only way to eat American soda bread this Banshee day is not patted with Irish butter but rather deep fried in American vegetable oil and shortening. Thanks state of LA and creole cuisine for this wonderful idea! I made soda bread not too long ago and it turned out perfect: it has to be Irish butter to get the whole color scheme right. Modern soda bread is so beautiful in color.
This looks like those lovely bran muffins you get. Good for your insides! I'm a regular at a muffin shop/cafe here and have started getting the banana pecan muffin, a bran muffin with butter.
Just ordered the book and bookplate. I love both cooking and history and finding someone who can bring those two passions together is truely a blessing. I hope you and your family are happy and healthy.
Although I’m a Brazilian by birth, I love cooking an Irish meal for my friends to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and soda bread is always part of it. Sorry Max. I loved the video but I will continue using baking soda because the results are great. But I will adjust my recipe to a courser whole wheat flour 😉
I've had Irish soda bread made outside with coals. I live on the Oregon Trail and I went to a reenactment where they made this. It was good 👍 This is similar to my family's recipe.
Ammonium Bicarbonate is still used in danish baking. Here its better known as hjortetaksalt. We use it for honeyhearts (honninghjerter), klejner, peppernuts (pebernødder) and other christmas cookies. It stinks horrendously, but it's just not the same, replacing it with something else.
The first one of your Irish recipes I've had before - definitely needs butter, but the contrast between the hard chewey crust and soft inside is lovely
Just an FYI Max, soda bread is the perfect side dish for another Irish dish called Dublin Coddle. It's a type of stew made with Irish sausage and back bacon rashers. Maybe you could give it a try next March, the history of Dublin's decline after the act of Union with Great Britain and the slums that sprung up would be a good topic to cover with it as coddle is traditionally a poor/working class meal.
I have pre-ordered your book, the order with your signature from Diesel bookstore costs more than 60 $ to Germany.🥺 The order at Amazon Germany , without signature, 26.99 € 🤔. I am happy to hold your book in my hands
My dad used to make Lebkuchen ( a kind of German 'gingerbread' but subtly different) every Christmas and he always used Hirschhornsalz (aka hart's horn salt) to make it, so it's still being used in some recipes, even today! Though I'm sure it's synthetic - I can't imagine people being okay with ground-up deer antlers in 2023. You make some fascinating videos, Max, and I'm so glad I found your channel!
Sign up for a SIGNED BOOKPLATE here (Preorders at any retailer in the US only) - www.simonandschuster.com/p/tasting-history-sweeps
For signed copies of the TASTING HISTORY COOKBOOK:
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I absolutely would have loved a book, but the shipping to Australia was insane at $ 65 USD when the book is more than a half less than that, and on a fixed income with my wife looking after our terminally ill child. I just couldn't bring myself to purchase it. Perhaps in time when my circumstances change. But really, I've never seen such a crazy shipping rate from the US. Keep doing what you do Max, your videos are a fleeting moment of reprieve for me in my day. Much love, stay safe, and stay awesome.
@@mwethereld wow,I hope everything in your life gets better and I’m so sorry for the situation with your child’s sickness,I hope for nothing but the best for you and your family
One catch, patents weren't numbered until 1836 which is when you'll find Patent #1.
Rub up all intimately? lol. Historic note. The bread will rise slightly faster if you play funk music from the 1970's. If you know what I mean.
@@NuncNuncNuncNunc gah! Thank you for that! See, this is what happens when one assumes 😆
"A half teacup of water" brought back a lot of memories. My great grandmother's recipes called for measurements of "teacup, coffee cup, egg shell, ladle, and smidge." I'll leave it to you to figure out what the modern measurements would be! We just guessed and usually got it right. I was fortunate enough to have her in my life until I was 19, and grew up with her in the kitchen.
If I had to make estimates, I'd probably go with the following
Coffee cup: 1 pint, or two cups
Teacup: 1 cup
Ladle: 1/2 cup, or 4 oz
Eggshell: 1/4 cup or 2 oz
Smidge: a pinch, or 1/4 tsp
I’d assume a tea cup is half a cup, a coffee serving is generally 6, but the cup up itself is 8, an egg is about an oz to an oz and a half liquid, modern ones are closer to 2
My 80yo silver ladle is 6 oz 😂 smidge is a bit more than a pinch, but less than a dash. My grandmother taught me to cook, she generally just measured with her hands, and I’m the only one who can figure out her recipe box these days
Those old fashioned recipes ♥️ My grandma has a cake recipe that calls for a small breakfast cup of milk and I can't for the life of me work out what that would be today. Was an amazing cake though and my mum still makes it sometimes. She can only make it though cuz she inherited the exact cup my grandma used to make it.
My grandma used modern measurements but one of my favorite bits was, when I was about 7 she taught me to make pie crusts from scratch, and there’s a part of the dry ingredients that gets separated and mixed with water. Grandma said to mix it „until it’s about like newspaper paste,“ and through the years if I mentioned making a pie crust she would reiterate that advice. Finally, in my mid-twenties I had to admit, „you know Grandma, I‘ve never seen newspaper paste. The only thing I know about it is that it’s apparently about the same thickness as the flour and water mix in your pie crust recipe!“ she got a good chuckle out of that!
Coffee cups are tiny(traditional English ones,so
Coffee cup-half a tea cup
Teacup-third of a pint
Ladle-one third less than a teacup
Eggshell-two rounded(not heaped)tablespoons
Smidge-a pinch or small blob
My mother always called it "sod it" bread as our large family always quickly devoured our way through loaves and on a far too regular basis, she would go to the bread bin only to discover it empty and would exclaim "sod it!" and get the ingredients out to make more.
EDIT - I seem to have caused a little confusion. Oops! "Sod it!" is indeed a mild curse/expletive used in my part of the world, usually said out of frustration and resignation. Mum frequently made up soda bread as it was much quicker and easier than regular, yeasted loaves. I'm delighted that you all love this funny memory. 😃
That's a truly funny memory!
😂😂😂
I AdOrE this 🥰💗❣️ thank you for sharing your sweet memory with us!
Love this story!
Thank you for sharing your memory with us. I love little snippets of memories, of others. Always interesting, and more often then not, very funny, as is yours. TY again.
Born and raised here in Ireland. We still make soda bread fairly frequently. There are some sources which say that the cutting of the cross into the top of the bread just before baking is to release the "fairies" (Irish fairies are nothing like tinkerbells, our "fairies" tend to be called names such as the other crowd, the good folk, the sidhe (pronounced like "the she") etc and they could mess you up. There's a huge portion of Irish folklore dedicated t9 stories of the sidhe).
Also, when my grandmother used to make soda bread, she'd often serve it with a fry (sausage, rashers, black pudding, white pudding, fried egg etc) and she'd then fry slices of soda bread in the frying pan once the fry was done.
Fried soda bread is incredible 🤤
From Ireland too. I always cut mine as there's nothing worse than getting stuck in a fairy ring. Takes forever to find your way out again!!
@@RB-ib3mo you mean after the pub ? 😂 little trick to get out faster is to walk backwards and put your clothes on wearing them inside out.
Thanks for enlightenment of the outsiders on what the sidhe are. First time I was in rural Cork and Kerry, where my folk are from, I was surprised to be treated hesitantly by some of the older people. Then it was explained in a quiet way that because of my clan history I was presumed to not be fully human but partly if Sidhe ancestry. My tribe has ruled over the Southwest for several millenia and their are certain weirdxthings and customs I was aware of growing up, but that was a little surprising. Even I avoid the old sites on a dark night. Don't sleep in a fairy ring and carry some food in your pockets lest you starve from walking across a Famine mass grave.
I often do a fry here in the states for my mother and myself, and there's not much better anywhere. I always cut a cross, but Mamaw said it was to let the devil out, nothing to do with the fair folk. I'll take my bread fried or with butter, either way.
I inexplicably love Irish people. A lot of American people do. We just inherintely do. I have no explanation. Maybe because a lot of our blood hales from there. Anyway, we love you
One note about the buttermilk: If you ever read a recipe before about 1900-1920 that calls for "buttermilk", it doesn't mean modern buttermilk. It means the liquid left over after churning butter. It's thinner, doesn't have fat (as that's all gone into the butter), and it has a lot of lactic acid. Modern buttermilk is cultured whole milk which is much thicker, has fat, and is more consistent (as traditional buttermilk can be different depending on how much fat was churned into the butter). Traditional buttermilk is still available if a bit hard to find as it's commonly used in foods from the Near East and India.
So if anyone out there is ever cooking an old recipe using buttermilk and it's just not turning out right, it's likely wanting traditional buttermilk rather than modern buttermilk.
Disagree- no it wasn’t modern buttermilk: But it was clabber. Clabbered milk is unpasteurized milk kept cool until it soured and clotted to a firm sour cream consistency (without separating into curds and whey) they used that. Never heard of using what you said- doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. ❤
A very good post.
The buttermilk from making sweet cream butter is not fit for anything but pig feed.
Before refrigeration butter was sour cream butter The milk was allowed to ferment, the cream skimmed off the clabber and churned. The butter didn't go rancid as fast as sweet cream butter. This buttermilk was widely drunk by everyone. Before carbonated drinks highly acidic drinks were used.
The clabber is what you call yogurt.
My Grandmothers made cottage cheese for the table.And baby chick food.
The clabber and. a little whey made a nice refreshinng snack.
Vinegar was made from wine,, apple and other. fruit juices.
The acidic content of.thisvinegar varied widely. The milder vinegar was widely used as a refreshing drink or miixed with gall to make a stimulating and refreshing drink.
Anybody see where this is going?
Oh, Google it.
The poster kitkatkitter is wrong.
I am 83 years old and was the cow milker and maker of all things milk. We lived in rural Arkansas with no electricity so no refrigeration.
Wow thank you so much!
Me finding out today that modern buttermilk isnt in fact what i always understood buttermilk to be (the leftover liquid from churning butter)
My in-laws were from Galway and my mother in law made the best Irish soda bread! 🍀
Share the recipe!
Are we invited 😂?
So is your wife literally a Galway Girl?
I’ll bet her bread wasn’t tasteless, like Max comments on his.
@@lyravain6304, I wish I had gotten it before she died.😢
Back in the 70s, my friend loved keeping chickens but didn't like eggs. So every weekend we would gather and she would bake to use up the eggs. Irish soda bread was at the top of her list, and the second was Moravian sugar cake. If you ever come across a recipe for the latter, I'd love to see a video of it. We've lost touch, & I don't have the recipe anymore. It's scrumptious!
Try this video, timestamp of 18: 41 th-cam.com/video/0yxtVaX4s1w/w-d-xo.html
Moravian sugar cake is really good. There’s also a Moravian apple cake that’s really, really good. My Mom had given me a Moravian cook book for xmass one year and all the recipes I did make from it were very delicious.
I hope he does your request. I’d like to know more history about their cakes, or desserts in general even. It seems Moravians have much holiday tradition centered around food.
Yes yes! Moravian buns! Sugar cookies.
Loads of recipes for the sugar cake, on youtube and around the web, just do a quick search.
I have a recipe for "Irish" soda bread that was given to me by an Irish Grandma, not my Grandma. It is the 'fly' style you mentioned, the way immigrants to US made it. It's really good. My boys are asking for it along with Chef John's (here on TH-cam) Guinness Beef Stew. I was surprised years after I got the recipe in the 1970s to see it show up on Food Network. So, must've been pretty common. Anyway, here it is for modern cooks.
Irish Soda Bread
5 c. sifted all purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
2 1/2 cups of raisins (soaked in water for 15 minutes, drained)
3 Tbs, caraway seeds
1 egg
2 1/2 c. buttermilk
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Cut in the butter until grainy. Stir in the caraway seeds and raisins. Add the buttermilk and egg and stir until well moistened. Split in two and put into 9x5 loaf pans sprayed with PAM or buttered. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Test for doneness with toothpick or fork. Cool in pans for 3 - 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks.
This looks like currant bread my nana used to make this too! Lovely when its warm with some butter and jam!
@@iwannanumber Yep, it's really good. I can't have it any longer because of diabetes so I'll make it for my grown sons to take home for St. Patrick's Day.
Other than the leavening, that sounds more like barmbrack than soda bread....
@@renebrock4147 It could be. I was given the recipe and told it was Irish Soda bread all those years ago. Although, I've always considered it a rather upscale version. I've used other recipes for soda bread that weren't as elaborate over the years.
That's how my mom makes irish soda bread !😊
I was in Ireland six months ago, and you are 100% right about soda bread being different there. We also found that in many places they add leftover oatmeal (made from whole, Irish oats). It's really yummy with lots of butter on it.
I want to visit ireland, but honestly want to visit the UK more
@@pilsplease7561well it's not too hard to do both, only a short flight from each other
Do both, you will love it
That’s most things
Not just the food, but, as always, totally fascinating history! I'm glad the intimate rubbing passed the TH-cam censors! 😜
Yeah soda bread is still a classic all round Ireland now. It's extremely common to get soda bread included with soup if you get soup at a cafe or restaurants.
Ok, this video hit many points for me. I am first generation Irish in America. My mother made soda bread for my WHOLE(!!) childhood, usually with raisins (related to your currents point). Wasn't until I was off to college for a few years that I started to crave it. Planning a trip home and Ma asked what i wanted stocked in the house. (Yes, she was a great mom.) And I said....SODA BREAD PLEASE!!!
Seems, in the mean time all my siblings had moved out. In the time there were not kids in house, Ma had not made any soda bread....and her response was..."Oh, I think I forgot how."
SHE NEVER WROTE IT DOWN!!!! I have been hunting for soda bread information since the EARLY 90's!!! This video makes a lot of thing more clear and tells me how my mother probably adapted her recipe for America!!! THANK YOU MAX!!!
My kids always have appreciated what I make and I, too, always ask what they’d like me to make when they come home. Their frustration? When they ate it they always asked if I wrote it down (usually I didn’t) until they’d finally ask and then immediately answer themselves with “no you didn’t!” I have made a concerted effort to do that along with any variations as I often use what’s on hand or try a different twist on something . Make sure you do that because it will be appreciated, believe me.
I would watch as a kid my grandma and great grandma who lived to 102 make pasta from scratch, great grandma was italian and that entire side of the family was honestly and she also cooked epic veal and many other foods. My grandmas cousin who is in his 80's like grandma is makes italian sausages from scratch by hand and they are amazing.
honestly, I had a bad week with some medical emergencies in my family and a ton of stress at work so far...but watching Max talk about bread is kinda like balm for the soul. not exactly sure why, but it's the highlight of tuesdays.
I watch this and the K&Gs channel Tuesday evenings.
May future days be calmer, happier, and healthier.
I always love this sort of stuff! I remember the elders in my tribe talking about how they'd sometimes leaven bread. They said they'd take about 2 pillowcases worth of dry bean hulls and burn them in a pot until they got about a large baby food jar amount of ash. This whitish-gray ash would then be added to bread much like the Irish did with their soda bread. The flour would either be made with nixified corn, wild potatoes, leached acorn meal, or a meal made from a certain aquatic lilly during times of no corn. This flour would be beaten by a cornbeater process using a hollowed out hickory log with a long wooden beating instrument. So, I can see where the chemical leavening would be beneficial.
You know who else has acorn bread and pancakes? The Korean grocery... It is fascinating how faraway cultures will use similar ingredients and foods, but everybody has their own spin.
Bean hulls, huh? I can see where that would be less messy than wood ash, for one thing.
@@suburbanbanshee wood ash wasbused to nixify the corn. I really don't know why bean hulls were considered ideal for leavening. What I have learned is the elders knew more about science than what we think they knew. How they learned it is just mind boggling.
@@gwennorthcutt421 the reason for my question was that my people didn't raise livestock. Moreover, we cooked dried bean hulls with beans...the dish later being called "leather breaches" because of the leathery texture of the dried bean hulls.
I love learning about stuff like this. Even before people had a scientific understanding of why things worked, they were creating chemical reactions with the resources they had and producing tasty, nutritious foods. A bread made from wild potatoes and acorn meal sounds so intriguing to me--I'd love to try some.
DO NOT USE non food grade sodium carbonate for baking. there are little to no regulations on what impurities it can contain. it probably won't kill you, but depending on the manufacturing method it may contain some pretty nasty stuff.
When I was a kid, I read a story about a little boy finding a four leaf shamrock. He was being teased because he didn't want to walk far. He wanted to go with his siblings to look for Shamrocks to sell in town, but They ended up having to pull him on a cart. They thought he was too little to be of much use and not paying much attention. At one point, he eats "the crusty corner of his Granny's Irish soda bread" that was his favorite part. But his siblings teased him, saying, "Are you lazy because you are so fat, or are you so fat because you are so lazy?" At the end of the story , when he finds the shamrock, he proves he has been paying attention. A real leprechaun appears to fulfill his wishes. He wishes not for his own desires but wishes what his Granny said she would wish for, "Aye, a full sod house, a full pantry and Me granny's broach she lost that she's always lamenting for." Now I wonder if the crusty corners of bread are his favorite parts and having a full party and sod house and happy Granny meant Paul would have plenty of that.
a shamrock is three leaves, a clover is four leaves lol
Oh I remember this story! My Nan has it and a bunch of different stories from different countries in an old book she had for years! It's part of a book series called Childcraft?
@@cringeassnaenaerabbit5203 Yes! it's Childcraft - The How And Why Library - Volume 3 - Children Everywhere. My family still owns the 1976 set. It's the very first story: _The Three Wishes_ (Ireland) by Patricia Lynch, Illustrations by Rowel Frier.
You've misremembered some of the details, but to be expected. It was winter and Paul's older brother did not want to pull him around because it was meant for Paul when he was a lot smaller. The older sister that dotes on Paul however talks him into it, though the brother still complains while glaring at him.
Left behind sheltered from the wind so he wouldn't slow them down, Paul ends up rolling out of the cart and ends up in the middle of a mossy patch with somehow no snow on it and a single four-leaf clover. He picks the clover and recalling Granny's stories, decides his first wish to be three more for his grandma and siblings, which instantly appears. It is then that he's confronted by an old leprechaun with a tiny hammer: the patch is his garden and Paul is trespassing (think 'cranky old man' and you've got the attitude). Paul decides to ignore him and reaches for the new clovers, but the owner decides to make him a deal: if he doesn't take the clovers, he can keep the one he has, and make his wishes now. Of course, Paul is a little kid and when he takes too long trying to think of good wishes for the leprechaun's liking, he gets exasperated and, being familiar with Paul's family makes a wish for him, 'a full sod house, a full pantry and your granny's broach she lost that she's always lamenting', and then with a "NOW GET OUT OF ME GARDEN!" shoves the kid off his property, which promptly disappears.
Paul's siblings return to find him with the clover. The brother is sure Paul wouldn't wish for anything worthwhile. On the way home, Paul quietly repeats the wish the leprechaun made for him under his breath. At home, their granny shows them, yes, a full sod house, and a full pantry; the brother is speechless while looking at Paul. On resting her hand on the kitchen table, the grandmother suddenly feels something under it: her crystal broach with its distinctive four-leaf clover embedded in the heart.
@@cringeassnaenaerabbit5203 yes that's it
Fascinating - I never knew that soda bread in the USA was different to the kind I'm used to. Incidentally, my Irish in-laws only call the kind made with white flour "soda bread"; the kind made with wholemeal flour (ideally stoneground) is always "wheaten bread", and it is very delicious. You can sometimes get it even in English supermarkets.
Ye our pubs make it Fly
This 100% wheaten bread.. Soda bread is completely different here in Ireland lol
Just made two loaves of baking soda bread with sprouted whole wheat flour and milk kefir… yummy
It might depend on where your in laws came from. Here, in Fermanagh soda bread is white, wheaten is whole meal. My wife is from Mayo and down there I get laughed at for calling it wheaten.
@@ballagh Same in Co L'Derry!
Kudos for ‘’She Blinded me with Science’’ 🎶
Hi Max, I have a suggestion for you for an episode - In ancient Rome an anise-flavored cake called mustaceum was popular at the end of a lavish dinner. It is considered a forerunner of the traditional spicy wedding cake often served in England.
Funny thing is I was gonna make a loaf for Saint Paddy's dinner, and then you drop this video, you're a blessing Max 😁
PADDY's. It's always PADDY's
patty is a girls name
What he is making here is called wheaten bread. Soda bread is completely different here.
🍀
Irish soda bread was the first bread I’ve ever made! Baking bread is honestly so satisfying. Watching this dough transform into bread and rise in the oven felt like the most magical thing. I was smiling for a week thinking about how proud I was for making bread 😂 it was actually very delicious and tasted like a biscuit bread! The most flavorful bread I’ve made. I used bigger bolder baking’s recipe.
I love her channel! Bigger bolder baking.
Like you it was the first savory bread I baked. So easy, so good. Love the BBB video for traditional Irish soda bread. My recipe is a combo of her's and Darina Allen's.
do you have any tips for "getting bread right" ? I have tried to make it half a dozen times now but seem to always go wrong no matter what recepie i try
@@Whocareslol hi there! First of all, I’m sorry to hear you haven’t had much luck. I’m a complete beginner. And when I say that I mean it because this is the first and only recipe I’ve tried. I highly recommend it because I messed up and the recipe still turned out well. The recipe said to only put about 70% of the liquid in, but I didn’t see that and poured all the water in causing my dough to be wet. Then I freaked out and added copious amounts of flour to fix it which led to me mixing a LOT. To make things more stressful, the recipe explicitly said to not overmix. Despite all of these mistakes, my bread still turned out incredibly delicious! I highly recommend this recipe if you’ve had lots of bad luck: th-cam.com/video/r9gcytz6LXA/w-d-xo.html
May I ask what types of bread you’ve had little success making and what happened? Irish soda bread is a quick bread AND it’s no knead so you should give it a try if you’ve only tried yeast leavened bread or knead bread.
@@Whocareslol What goes wrong? Is it too dry, does it not rise? Tips: Don't knead it like yeast bread, just pull it together. Use full fat buttermilk. Use fresh baking powder. Don't overbake, it cooks quickly. Don't look for a brown crust.
As someone both from Enniskillen and interested in history and food, I'll definitely be trying this version!
But this is wheaten bread here lol sure soda is white and completely different
@amy farelly so the meaning of the term changed or did this one guy just mix up the names.
@@napoleonfeanor I think it’s more regional variation. Here (Fermanagh) soda is white and wheaten is whole meal, further south you get brown soda which is basically the same as wheaten.
@@ballagh Thanks for explaining. Does Irish cuisine have strong regional variations? In my fatherland, we do have strong regional differences, especially between Northern flatlands and the mountainous South (especially Austro-Bavarian).
@@napoleonfeanor there are still pockets of variation, for example things like soda farls, a variation of soda bread are really an Ulster thing, while boxty, a sort of potato cake thing is north Connaught/ west Ulster.
There are little variations like that across the island although the supermarket culture is tending to homogenise it somewhat. Hopefully the rise of niche or artisan foods will help keep the traditional recipes alive alongside the older home producers.
Easily one of the best channels on TH-cam! My mom and I love to watch your stuff together ❤️
Thanks to you and your mum
We still use Hartshorn Salt here in Sweden, especially when making "mandelkubb" and "drömmar". It's used foremost for cookies, as it makes the cookies very crumbly. It does not leave any taste.
In my part of Norway it’s used for mørlefse as well as certain “småkaker” (literally “small-cakes”, or cookies to use the modern term).
is it still produced from deer antler?
@@yerabbit
No, it’s synthesised in a lab nowadays.
Yeah, I've had some cookies made with it before, had no idea it was made from deer antlers though
@@Amy_the_Lizard
They don’t use literal hartshorn to make it nowadays, but instead synthesise it in labs.
My aunt, who lived in Northern Ireland after marrying my uncle who was Northern Irish, would often make soda bread the same way as they do over there. It is something that I never actually learned how to make myself, as I would always ask her to make it for me. So thank you for doing this video! Now I can make it for myself - My aunt passed away in 2019 so this will be a wonderful way to honor her memory! ❣🥰
I always make Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick's Day so this is perfect timing for me!
I usually have my soda bread with really sharp Irish cheese so the mild flavor of the bread works.
Me mam just makes it all the time lol
@@xander1052 Lol I'm Married to French woman and living in france, made soda bread once and now I have to make it at least once a month. Last halloween I made a barmbrack now I've two different loaves to make each month for us and the inlaws. TBH next time I go for fresh yeast I might have a go at a Doherty's plain loaf 🤣
That's a good idea! I think I'll get some to go with the soda bread too. As long as I make 2 loaves, because 1 always disappears with the corned beef & cabbage! Not sure how Irish it is (probably not very) but it is delicious and I get compliments any time I make it, so that works for me.
@@jooleebilly full bellies make for happy faces, doesn't really matter the origin. I think it's an american thing, not sure if it was on this channel that it was explained but I know in Ireland beef was exported and either forbidden to be bought or too expensive. And I think in New york etc Irish and Jewish quarters were apparently close together and their butchers don't carry pork so beef it was.
My Irish step father loves a good soda farl. This has me inspired to make him one. Thanks, Max - your enthusiasm is always so infectious. 💕
#1 Best channel ever. PERIOD
🥰 thank you
This reminds me of wacky cake, which is a chocolate cake popularized during the great depression made with no butter, eggs, or milk and uses baking soda and vinegar as a rising agent. It makes a deliciously moist cake and it's my family's go-to chocolate cake recipe so I grew up not thinking much of it until my friend was watching me make it one day and was extremely alarmed when she saw me pouring vinegar into my cake batter lol
I just wanted to give a sincere thank you for what you do. You've reignited my love of history, teaching history through food has made it feel so approachable and has let me feel a special connection to people of times long past. The universal nature of food has really helped humanize and empathize the struggles and daily lives of ancient people for me.
Oh yes! I am hosting a little dinner TODAY w/irish immigrant food in celebration of Paddy's Day. The recipe I copied from the net years past was this exact one, Farmer's Magazine, Nov 1836. A million times, thank you! Definitely going to try the sodium carbonate shift.
Great video - one thing I would add here, I was reading Joyce's Ulysses the other day and came across the word 'farl', Anyway when you were making the bread you created a cross to divide it in 4. Well... a farl, as I found out, is quater-circle of soda bread.
"Quite a resume for a simple loaf of bread." Love those clever, witty quips of yours, Max.😉
Growing up, I always called my mom's best friends my aunties. One of my aunties is an absolutely wonderful woman who is a second generation irish immigrant, her parents both immigrated here in the 60's and even started a massive community here in my home town based around celebrating irish heritage. Her mom used to make the absolute best irish soda bread. Thank you so much for making this video, as her mom passed on new years this year. All I've really been wanting since I last saw hwe was another piece of her city famous Soda Bread. Maybe now I can make it close to how she did. :)
Probably the best yearly tradition to get into is getting soda bread in a local bakery. Love it so much!
A good substitute for Irish style flour can be had by mixing 1 cup Ap flour, 2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup wheat bran and 1/4 cup wheat germ.
Aaaahhhhh.... Another Tuesday episode of Coffee with Max. My favorite weekday tradition
Words cannot express how much I have learned from your videos. Thank you so much for all of the passion and hard work that you put into this channel.
That being said, I've been craving cheese steak lately. I couldn't find any "old" recipes on it, but I can't believe that the first time someone put steak and cheese on bread was in 1930. I hope you can find some interesting history on that.
I love the Azumarill in the back lol 🐰💙. Congrats on your book being published! I love your channel and the effort and research that goes into each one of your videos ☺️ I always watch the episodes while eating/having dinner so that I eat more deliciously my meal and learn something new while at it because I also love history :)
What’s Azumarill’s connection to the video? I can’t figure it out
@@cassimcguire7557 I would think it's because Azumarill is the aqua rabbit pokemon/apparently based on a rabbit and easter is close, and the Easter bunny and all that :), and it could be this bread is/was more commonly eaten around this time of the year, from some comments below I've gathered many people prepare it for saint Patrick's day :).
Thanks!!
re: the maillard reaction thing, this is why i add the *slightest* amount of baking soda to onions if i'm trying to caramelize them. like if i'm making fajitas and frying off sliced onion and pepper, i'll sprinkle maybe 1/8th tsp baking soda in and give it a stir. just helps things to brown and caramelize a little quicker.
Another Tasting History video, to save the day :D thank you so much, it gave me energy for the rest of the workday.
Lots of love from the country of Schnitzel and Kipferl 💚💚
I gotta do schnitzel soon.
@@TastingHistory It's so worth it, the whole story with Cotoletta alla milanese and the division between Schnitzel lovers is pure drama xD
But I can also highly recommend recipes from my heritage romania! Sarmale and Ciorba are an absolute win 🤩
Thanks for being awesome🥰
Love learning about food history. I did a deep dive for a school project on the famine in Ireland. It was eye opening and so devastating to my soul.
Nuts and seeds go really well in soda bread - I was recently taught a super simple recipe with broken up walnuts, pumpkin seeds and if you'd like a bit of sweetness, hopped medjool dates work really well also. Sprinkle oats on top before baking as well. An ample layer of butter on warm/toasted slices helps. Super filling stuff!
Harthorn salt is used in a lot of traditional Swedish cookies, perhaps you could make a video about the Swedish tradition of 'seven small cookies' to be consumed during that most Swedish of meals, the fika or kafferep. A history of fika would be interesting as well.
I absolutely love Irish foods! Thanks for making this episode Max! Tons of love!
Check out Ballymaloe Cookery School. Their website has links to someof the most authentic, (albeit well off) traditional irish cookery.
Nothing beats a slice of soda bread with smoked salmon on top!
It's always great seeing videos including some of my favorite foods. There was an Irish couple who used to be my neighbors who'd bake us a loaf of soda bread around Christmas every year. We'd always return the favor with Oliebollen or Banket.
Dutch oven baking skills are a joy to see. Mainly, because to be good at it, you have to be able to judge temperature by touch and eye, as well as experience. I've quite enjoyed watching camp cooking videos by people who bake a LOT with dutch ovens. You can make everything in a dutch oven. Breads, deserts (including cakes), stews, roasts, etc. Plus, you can also just use it as a cooking pot. And if you get really creative, you can use the lid as a makeshift frying pan!
Truly a wonderful cooking utensil. And if you take care of a good cast iron dutch oven, your children, and your children's children could still be using that oven long after you are done with it. ^-^
Good morning, Max! I think this is the earliest I think I've caught one of your videos.
I just wanted to say how much I enjoy the content you produce. I've been watching your channel since very early on. I appreciate the effort you put into your content. You are one of my favorite youtube creators ever. Kudos to you!
it's definitely the earliest I've been lol
I make soda bread every year for st patty’s day - the recipe I use calls for wrapping the warm baked bread in tin foil (specifically) and letting it sit for at least overnight before serving. This enhances the buttermilk flavor :)
It's Paddy. Patty is a girls' name.
@@cacamilis8477 my name is Patrick and I often go by Patty, therefore its not just a girls name.
@@cacamilis8477 thanks, but I’m in the US, and St Patty’s is acceptable here, as it’s short for PATrick. I’ll make sure to correct my autocorrect if I’m ever in Ireland.
Patty is used in America instead of Paddy because Paddy was used as an insult/slur towards Irish/Irish-American men by WASPs.
@@cacamilis8477 thank you it also annoys me when Americans bastardise language
I'd definitely encourage you to get more into bread baking, my step dad does it as his main hobby and it's kinda insane how good bread can taste, especially when fresh
As you enter the evening banquet at Bunratty Castle in County Clare you are greeted at the door by folk in medieval garb whereupon you receive a small square of soda bread with only a pinch of salt sprinkled on it.
Cornbread is also a type of soda bread, I suppose, since it uses a combination of baking soda and buttermilk for leavening, instead of yeast.
Also "rub up all intimately together" is going to be living rent-free in my head 😅
Right? Like I'm serious considering it for my senior quote
Some people want to have an intimate relationship with their food ;)
@@TickleAsshairs That made me laugh!
Man, I remember my Irish Nana making this, and giving me big doorstops of bread with butter on when ever I visited. So so tasty. ❤
You and Dylan Hollis should do a book package deal. Both history focused cooks coming out with cookbooks at the same time.
I'd settle for a video collaboration.
That would be precious! Also, seeing twink Steve Rogers working alongside Max sounds effing hilarious
Any chance we could get a video or two of your and Jose's favorite family recipes or like your favorite meals growing up? It'd be really great around mother's day or father's day and I think I can safely say that we love getting to know more about you two!
My family has a recipe handed down and it’s definitely the Americanized version. Lots of milk and raisins. Something I always look forward to on St. Paddy’s Day 😋 So cool to see this other version as it is so different. I also have to agree, the butter helps even with our version. Can’t go wrong with a generous amount of butter paired with soda bread.
Thank you for this video! I have a story about baking soda bread in a Dutch Oven. So, I do historical reenactments and we always are cooking for them. We decided to try making soda bread for St. Patrick's Day a few years back. We found a receipt and mixed it up, put it into the Dutch Oven with coals on the bottom and on the top, and let it bake. We tested it after the top looked nice and firm (it even make that pleasant thumping sound). My best friend went to turn it out onto to a dish from the baking dish that we had it in and..... lava hot soda bread "batter" all over her, the table, the stone hearth. We haven't tried making it again since! Except we ARE going to try again next week at Frontier Food Night at Old City Park. Hope you don't mind that we'll be using your Corned Beef and Cabbage recipe and this one for dinner that night. :)
Tammy from Cook Like a Celt
"Rub up all intimately together. OOOH, YEEEAAH!" could be the new "Hardtack" going forward. We need a new bread-related gag for this show because a lot of unusual humour can be derived from the act of baking bread.
I love my soda bread in the morning toasted with Kerry gold butter and marmalade washed down with a hot mug of tea !
Absolutely fell in love with Irish soda bread with loads of deep yellow Irish butter when on our vacation there. We actually thought the food in general in Ireland was amazing - certainly nothing like the reputation it had. Amazing bread, butter, cheese, lamb, beef, seafood, vegetables, soups, chowders, stews.
Thanks for making another banger of a vid on our nation’s food 💜💜 Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit! ☘️
The bakery around me adds caraway seeds to their soda bread. It was very weird for me at first, but I absolutely love it. I'll have to try this recipe myself.
I always love watching your videos Max! Keep up to good work :)
Thank you 😊
I can't believe you spent a fortune on the Odlums flour, next time I'll just post some to you sham! I don't enjoy cooking, and I have a bad relationship with food with my mental health, but your videos are always so interesting and fun!
You mention the Moroccan way of cooking a similar bread but it might be interesting to get a video on a soda farl, a variation of soda bread cooked on a hot plate, traditionally over an open fire. Best served as a split soda with bacon and a fried egg inside.
Btw great old picture of Enniskillen from Portora, it’s strange to think Beckett and Wilde were both familiar with that view.
(Edit to add - a soda farl is probably the single ingredient that divides an ulster fry from a breakfast fry of English, Irish, or Scottish variations or even a mixed grill. Almost all the other ingredients turn up elsewhere but half a fried soda is ours alone.
I just randomly found soda bread at my local market. I bought it and devoured the entire thing! It’s so good. Cool to see a video all about it.
Julia Child often said: " The more butter the better." I couldn't agree more.
I live in Northern Ireland and what you made is known here as wheaten bread while modern soda bread is lighter and thicker and a bit dryer. While it doesn't have much flavor, I like the texture of it. My great grandparents were farmers and my great-grandmother used to make wheaten and soda bread in the 1930s-50s and would give it out to their neighbours. My mother learned to make both the old style or wheaten bread and soda bread and I learned how to make it from her.
I have sometimes made soda bread pizza by making modern soda bread, slicing it and adding tomato paste, cheese, a couple of toppings on one side of it and baking it in the oven. My mum also used to make treacle soda, soda bread with treacle in the dough and I have seen variations on it in local bakeries, some with Guinness in it.
When my morning sickness was getting very bad my mom made me Irish soda bread, like her father did for her, because it’s so inoffensive. I couldn’t eat because it was too flavourful and I couldn’t keep down the bite I had… that’s when we knew I needed to go to the doctor 😂
Loving the green shirt, loving the Thomas Dolby reference, and the bread looks great  Thanks Max 
Irish and have been living in the country for about 10 years now but you could get it in Dublin NP.
You can buy this bread in most shops and bakeries with a few people even making their own due to the ease and how quickly it fills you up.
Few slices of that with butter in the oven until the crust is just starting to burn and a big mug of tea is a great way to start the day :)
Just moved across country to where my majority Irish immigrant family lives and my great aunt had some imported Irish soda bread (in loaf form) for sandwiches. It was the first time I had ever had it and it was nice! She also makes a lot fresh this time of year for the older folks in the family who still remember growing up with their families making it the classic way back in Ireland.
Since you mentioned odlums, they make a pre-mixed soda bread mix, which you only need to add milk to. It’s amazing. I can’t make bake at all but it always comes out perfect. Odlums isn’t expensive here in Ireland so I expect the expense for you would have been shipping 😅
When you took out the baked bread, it reminded me of my nana baking bread in her kitchen. The bread might not have a lot of flavour, but with some good quality butter, there’s nothing better.
Love your channel 🇮🇪
We’ve actually used a traditional dutch oven while camping a few times! It’s a neat way to cook, and surprisingly versatile, and while there’e definitely some trial and error involved in getting things to cook evenly, it’s worth trying if you can. We usually ended up making a delicious pineapple upside-down cake in ours.
Also, it you are going to try it, you need a heavy duty cast iron dutch oven with feet, to allow for air flow. A kitchen dutch oven wouldn’t work.
6:41 I SEE THAT HEART SHAPE ❤
I LOVE MAX MILLER
🥰
Real
OMG that Azumarill for soda bread... such a perfect fit. Although the shiny would have been even better :D
I am glad you mentioned the flavor of the soda bread, which is the real reason to add extra salt sugar, currants, caraway, butter, etc. It is pretty austere without the extras. That is why muffins, scones, and other quick breads are usually sweeter.
This was absolutely fascinating and I learned more than I thought I would! Thank you Max!
Max simply doesn't miss.
I was never exposed to this before moving to Boston. I sincerely hope your version tasted a lot better than any I've had. I guess if you were starving it would taste good.
I found a recipe for soda bread by Irish cooking show host Monica Sheridan in her cookbook (in fact, the recipe was even reprinted on the dust jacket). It came out more like a scone and very crumbly. Once I unpack from my move, I'll locate the book again and compare notes on her version versus modern versus more traditional. Thanks for reminding me of it.
Monica was a legend !
@@neilfromcork I loved her cookbook - she had such a wonderful personality in her writing.
When I went to Ireland I liked soda bread at first, but man does it get old after having it a couple times. It was to the point where I was ready to ask for regular bread at many restaurants.
The history of baking sofa was on list of requests I had in my mind for this channel - thanks for reading my mind :-)!
This year upon inspecting a box of beignet mix I have that I got online while it was on sale I have determined that the only way to eat American soda bread this Banshee day is not patted with Irish butter but rather deep fried in American vegetable oil and shortening. Thanks state of LA and creole cuisine for this wonderful idea! I made soda bread not too long ago and it turned out perfect: it has to be Irish butter to get the whole color scheme right. Modern soda bread is so beautiful in color.
This looks like those lovely bran muffins you get. Good for your insides! I'm a regular at a muffin shop/cafe here and have started getting the banana pecan muffin, a bran muffin with butter.
Just ordered the book and bookplate. I love both cooking and history and finding someone who can bring those two passions together is truely a blessing. I hope you and your family are happy and healthy.
Although I’m a Brazilian by birth, I love cooking an Irish meal for my friends to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and soda bread is always part of it. Sorry Max. I loved the video but I will continue using baking soda because the results are great. But I will adjust my recipe to a courser whole wheat flour 😉
Glad to hear that there's a version of soda bread that has no raisins in it. The soda bread that we have has raisins in it.
I've had Irish soda bread made outside with coals. I live on the Oregon Trail and I went to a reenactment where they made this. It was good 👍
This is similar to my family's recipe.
It's basically the same as biscuits, except without the shortening.
Ammonium Bicarbonate is still used in danish baking. Here its better known as hjortetaksalt. We use it for honeyhearts (honninghjerter), klejner, peppernuts (pebernødder) and other christmas cookies. It stinks horrendously, but it's just not the same, replacing it with something else.
The dutch use it quite often for something called an Eierkoek. Very airy sweet round bread.
The first one of your Irish recipes I've had before - definitely needs butter, but the contrast between the hard chewey crust and soft inside is lovely
I ordered my bookplate. Thanks! I always need currants or raisins in my soda bread. And lots of really good butter!! 🧈
Just an FYI Max, soda bread is the perfect side dish for another Irish dish called Dublin Coddle. It's a type of stew made with Irish sausage and back bacon rashers. Maybe you could give it a try next March, the history of Dublin's decline after the act of Union with Great Britain and the slums that sprung up would be a good topic to cover with it as coddle is traditionally a poor/working class meal.
I have pre-ordered your book, the order with your signature from Diesel bookstore costs more than 60 $ to Germany.🥺 The order at Amazon Germany , without signature, 26.99 € 🤔. I am happy to hold your book in my hands
"Rub up all intimately together" is the single best recipe instruction I've ever seen.
My dad used to make Lebkuchen ( a kind of German 'gingerbread' but subtly different) every Christmas and he always used Hirschhornsalz (aka hart's horn salt) to make it, so it's still being used in some recipes, even today! Though I'm sure it's synthetic - I can't imagine people being okay with ground-up deer antlers in 2023.
You make some fascinating videos, Max, and I'm so glad I found your channel!