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{{short description|Wheat bread leavened with baking soda}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox food
| name             = Soda bread
| image            = Ben W Bell Soda Bread Farl 05 June 2007.jpg
| image_size       = 250px
| caption          = An Irish soda [[farl]], made by cutting a flattened round of dough into four pieces, then baking
| country          =[[Ireland]]<ref name="History of Soda Bread">{{cite book|author=Society for the Preservation of the Soda Bread|title=Society for the Preservation of the Irish Soda Bread|url=http://www.sodabread.info/history}}</ref> 
| region           = 
| creator          =[[Irish people|Irish]]<ref name="History of Soda Bread">{{cite book|author=Society for the Preservation of the Soda Bread|title=Society for the Preservation of the Irish Soda Bread|url=http://www.sodabread.info/history}}</ref> 
| course           = 
| type             = [[Quick bread]]
| served           = 
| main_ingredient  = [[Flour]], [[sodium bicarbonate]], [[salt]], [[buttermilk]]
| variations       = 
| calories         = 
| other            = 
| alt              = flat, triangular bread with pale surface irregularly covered with browning. 
}}
[[File:Soda bread.jpg|thumb|[[Whole grain|Whole wheat]] soda bread (known as ''wheaten bread'' in parts of [[Ireland]])|alt=round bread loaf with craggy brown surface marked with an x]]
[[File:Polish Flat Sodabreads, Skansen in Sanok, 2010.png|thumb|Polish flat soda bread (known as ''[[proziaki]]'' in [[Podkarpackie Voivodeship|Podkarpacie]])|alt=basket filled with round, flat pieces of bread with some browning and charring on the surface]]

'''Soda bread''' is a variety of [[quick bread]] made in many cuisines in which [[sodium bicarbonate]] (otherwise known as "baking soda", or in Ireland, "bread soda") is used as a [[leavening agent]] instead of [[yeast]]. The basic ingredients of soda bread are [[flour]], [[Sodium bicarbonate|baking soda]], [[salt]], and [[buttermilk]]. The buttermilk contains [[lactic acid]], which reacts with the baking soda to form bubbles of [[carbon dioxide]]. Other ingredients can be added, such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts. Quick breads can be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time and labor needed for kneaded yeast breads.

==Preparation==
Soda bread is made with coarse flour, white, whole meal, or a mix. High-protein flour is not used because the preferred texture is "moist and crumbly". Other grains (such as rolled oats) may be added.<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2014/feb/05/how-to-bake-perfect-soda-bread |title=How to bake the perfect soda bread |date=5 February 2014 |work=The Guardian}}</ref> Soda bread is generally not kneaded because kneading can toughen it.<ref name=guardian/><ref name=bbc>{{cite news |url=http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160920-secrets-of-the-soda-bread-masters |title=Secrets of the soda bread masters |date=20 September 2016 |publisher=BBC}}</ref>

Buttermilk or sour milk is the usual liquid acid ingredient.<ref name=guardian/>

Variants may add [[olive oil]], [[Egg as food|eggs]], [[molasses]], [[sugar]], [[treacle]], or [[honey]].<ref name=guardian/>

==Origin==

===Ireland===
{{Main|Irish soda bread}}
[[File:Irish brown soda bread.JPG|thumb|Home-made Irish brown soda bread|alt=dark brown, rectangular loaf topped with flecks of white powder and slice sitting on plate]]

Traditional Irish bread was historically cooked on a griddle as [[flatbread]] because the domestic flours did not have the properties needed to rise effectively when combined with [[yeast]]. Baking soda offered an alternative, but its popularity declined for a time when imported high-gluten flours became available. Brown soda bread (served with smoked salmon) reappeared on luxury hotel menus in the 1960s. Modern varieties can be found at Irish cafes and bakeries, some made with [[Guinness]], [[treacle]], [[walnut]]s, and herbs, although the sweetened version with [[caraway]] and [[raisins]] is now rare. Soda bread made with raisins is colloquially called "spotted dog" or "spotted dick".<ref name=bbc/>

In [[Ireland]], the flour is typically made from [[soft wheat]], so soda bread is best made with a cake or pastry flour (made from soft wheat), which has lower levels of [[gluten]] than a bread flour. In some recipes, the buttermilk is replaced by live [[yogurt]] or even [[stout]]. Because the leavening action starts immediately (compared to the time taken for yeast bread to rise), bakers recommend the minimum amount of mixing of the ingredients before baking; the dough should not be kneaded.{{citation needed|date=August 2015}}

Various forms of soda bread are popular throughout Ireland. Soda breads are made using wholemeal, white flour, or both. In [[Ulster]], the wholemeal variety is usually known as "wheaten bread" and is normally sweetened, while the term "soda bread" is restricted to the white savoury form. In the southern provinces of Ireland, the wholemeal variety is usually known as "brown bread" and is almost identical to the Ulster wheaten. In some parts of [[Fermanagh]], the white-flour form of the bread is described as "fadge".<ref name="FermanaghGoldThread">{{cite web|title=Fermanagh Gold Thread|url=http://www.archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/FERMANAGH-GOLD/2008-11/1225976149/}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="IrishBlessingsTours">{{cite web|title=Irish Blessings Tours |url=http://www.irishblessingstours.com/blog/an-authentic-slice-of-ireland/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714134748/http://www.irishblessingstours.com/blog/an-authentic-slice-of-ireland/ |archive-date=14 July 2014 }}</ref>

"Griddle cakes" and "griddle bread" (or "soda [[farl]]s" in Ulster) take a more rounded shape and have a cross cut in the top to allow the bread to expand. The griddle cake or farl is a more flattened type of bread. It is cooked on a [[griddle]], allowing it to take a more flat shape, and it is split into four sections. The soda farl is one of the distinguishing elements of the [[Full breakfast#Ulster|Ulster fry]], where it is served alongside [[potato bread]], also in farl form.<ref name="Ulster Fry Recipe">{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/4food/recipes/breakfast/ulster-fry-recipe|title=Programmes – Most Popular – All 4}}</ref>

===Scotland===
In [[Scotland]], varieties of soda breads and griddle sodas include [[Bannock (British food)|bannocks]] and [[farl]]s (Scots: {{Lang|sco|fardel}}, "a fourth"), "soda scones", or "soda farls", using [[baking powder]] or baking soda as a leavening agent giving the food a light and airy texture.<ref name="BannockPE"/><ref name="Ingram">{{cite book | last = Ingram | first = Christine |author2=Jennie Shapter  | title = BREAD: the breads of the world and how to bake them at home | publisher = Hermes House | year = 2003 | location = (Originally published as ''The World Encyclopedia of Bread and Bread Making''.) London | isbn = 0-681-87922-X | page = 54 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last = Clayton | first = Bernard Jr. | title = Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads | publisher = Simon & Schuster | year = 2003 | location = New York | url = https://archive.org/details/bernardclaytonsn00clay_0 | isbn = 0-7432-3472-3 | page = [https://archive.org/details/bernardclaytonsn00clay_0/page/555 555] | url-access = registration }}</ref>

Bannocks are flat cakes of [[barley]] or [[oatmeal]] [[dough]] formed into a round or oval shape, then cooked on a [[griddle]] (Scots: ''{{Lang|sco|girdle}}''). The most authentic versions are unleavened, but from the early 19th century bannocks have been made using baking powder, or a combination of baking soda and buttermilk or [[Clabber (food)|clabbered milk]].<ref name="BannockPE"/> Before the 19th century, bannocks were cooked on a bannock stone (Scots: {{Lang|sco|stane}}), a large, flat, rounded piece of [[sandstone]], placed directly onto a fire, then used as a cooking surface.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://aberdeen.ac.uk/virtualmuseum/pictures_show2.php?prefix=ABDUA&num=16317 |title=Bannock Stane at Aberdeen University's Virtual Museum |access-date=2009-11-12 |last=Feilden |first=Rosemary |year=1999 |publisher=Aberdeen University }}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Several varieties of bannock include Selkirk bannocks, [[Bere (grain)|beremeal]] bannocks, [[Michaelmas]] bannock, [[Kirk Yetholm|Yetholm]] bannock, and [[Yule]] bannock.<ref name="BannockPE">{{cite news|title=Bannock |url=http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/bannock |work=Practically Edible: The Web's Biggest Food Encyclopaedia |access-date=2008-10-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120163225/http://www.practicallyedible.com/edible.nsf/pages/bannock |archive-date=20 November 2008 }}</ref>

The traditional soda farl is used in the [[Full Scottish breakfast#Scotland|full Scottish breakfast]] along with the [[potato scone]] (Scots: {{Lang|sco|tattie scone}}).

===Serbia===
[[File:Cesnica.jpg|thumb|225px|Members of a Serbian family break soda bread or [[česnica]] at a Christmas dinner.|alt=A number of hands break open a pale loaf made of several smaller buns]]
In [[Serbia]]n tradition, soda bread is prepared by various rules and rituals. A coin is often put into the dough during the kneading; other small objects may also be inserted. At the beginning of Christmas dinner, the ''[[česnica]]'' is rotated three times counter-clockwise, before being broken among the family members. The person who finds the coin in their piece of the bread will supposedly be exceptionally lucky in the coming year. Before baking, the upper surface of the loaf may be inscribed with various symbols,<ref name=plotnikova>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Plotnikova | first = A. A. | editor = Svetlana Mikhaylovna Tolstaya and Ljubinko Radenković | encyclopedia = Словенска митологија: енциклопедијски речник [Slavic mythology: encyclopedic dictionary] | title = Чесница | language = sr | year = 2001 | publisher = Zepter Book World | location = [[Belgrade]] | isbn = 86-7494-025-0 | pages = 577–78}}</ref> such as a [[Christogram]], or stars, circles, and impressions of keys or combs.<ref name=vukmanovic>{{cite journal  | last = Vukmanović  | first = Jovan  | title = Božićni običaji u Boki Kotorskoj  |trans-title=Christmas traditions in the Bay of Kotor | journal = Zbornik za narodni život i običaje Južnih Slovena  | volume = 40  | pages = 491–503  | publisher = The Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts  | language = sr  | location = Zagreb  | year = 1962  | url = http://www.rastko.rs/rastko-bo/ljudi/jvukmanovic-bozic.html  | access-date = 2010-01-04}}</ref>

===United States of America===
During the early years of European settlement of the Americas, settlers used soda or [[pearl ash]], more commonly known as potash (pot ash) or [[potassium carbonate]], as a leavening agent (the forerunner to baking soda) in [[quick bread]]s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.davidwalbert.com/2010/02/03/early-american-gingerbread-cakes/ |title=Early American gingerbread cakes &#124; Walbert's Compendium |access-date=2010-11-20 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315062615/http://www.davidwalbert.com/2010/02/03/early-american-gingerbread-cakes/ |archive-date=15 March 2012 }}</ref> By 1824, ''The Virginia Housewife'' by Mary Randolph was published containing a recipe for Soda Cake.<ref>''The Virginia Housewife'' by Mary Randolph 1824, p136.</ref>

In 1846, two American bakers, John Dwight and Austin Church, established the first factory in the United States to produce baking soda from sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide.

Modern American versions of [[Irish soda bread]] often include raisins or currants, and caraway seeds.

==See also==
{{Portal|Food}}
* [[Proziaki]]
* [[List of breads]]
* [[List of Irish dishes]]
* [[List of quick breads]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Soda breads}}
{{Cookbook|Soda Bread}}
* [http://www.sodabread.info/ Society for the Preservation of Irish Soda Bread]
*[http://www.europeancuisines.com/Peters-Mums-Soda-Bread-Recipe History of and recipes for Irish Soda bread at European Cuisines.com]

{{Bread}}
{{Irish cuisine}}
{{Irish bread}}
{{Scottish cuisine}} 

{{Ireland topics}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soda Bread}}
[[Category:Quick breads]]
[[Category:Irish cuisine]]
[[Category:Irish breads]]
[[Category:Northern Irish cuisine]]
[[Category:Christmas food]]
[[Category:Serbian cuisine]]
[[Category:Bulgarian cuisine]]
[[Category:Scottish breads]]
[[Category:Irish-American cuisine]]
[[Category:British breads]]