We had our first round of "Irish soda bread" yesterday from Junda's Bakery in Jamesport.
And...it was just as delicious as I recall it from last year, if a bit on the dry side perhaps, but this is the first week they've had it available and Agnes made me promise to buy a loaf a week until the end of March when they file away the recipe for another year. So we'll check out a few more loaves to see if this was an aberration or they've begun to cook their loaves too long.
Also, as I am inclined to do, I started to read a bit about the history of Irish soda bread (Wiki will give you good background if you're interested,) but my favorite read had to be here, at The Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda bread:
http://www.sodabread.us/
It's so perfectly Irish: combative, humorous and witty.
And according to the site, we weren't eating real Irish soda bread when we downed the loaf purchased yesterday in less than 24 hours and I won't be eating real Irish soda bread the next four weeks either.
To which I say...so what? Was I really expecting a true Irish soda bread when I walked into a Polish American bakery on the East End of Long Island? Since Jamesport is not Dublin, probably not. While the raisins and sugar glaze (caraway seeds optional) certainly break with tradition, it's a perfectly sensible and logical extrapolation on the original.
Was it the "best Irish soda bread on Long Island" as one customer was overheard saying to the clerk? It depends on who you ask (and likely your definition of Irish soda bread, if you have a traditionalist bent,) but we enjoyed our round and will return to buy more before April rears its confused, wet head.
Just hold the caraway seeds!
0 comments:
Post a Comment