In most of Ireland, brown bread means this: a loaf of coarse wholemeal flour, buttermilk and baking soda, mixed in a few minutes and baked without any yeast at all. Soda breads took hold in Ireland because the soft wheat the country grew made a poor yeast loaf, while buttermilk, the sour liquid left over from churning butter, was close at hand in farm kitchens. The acid in the buttermilk reacts with the soda and lifts the dough in the oven, and for generations it was baked in a heavy lidded pot set in the embers of the fire. In Ulster the wholemeal loaf is usually called wheaten bread and is often a little sweeter; in the south it is simply brown bread, and nobody needs it explained.

It is the bread that arrives with a bowl of chowder in a pub on the west coast, under smoked salmon as a starter, and with butter and nothing else at a kitchen table in the middle of an afternoon. It requires no kneading, no rising and no special skill, only a light hand, which is the one instruction Irish bakers repeat more often than any other. Mixed after breakfast, it is out of the oven and cool enough to slice before qualifying begins.

The dough

Ingredients

• 2 cups (250 g) coarse stone ground whole wheat flour
• 1 cup (125 g) all purpose flour
• 1/3 cup (25 g) wheat bran
• 1/4 cup (25 g) old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine salt
• 1 tablespoon (20 g) dark treacle or molasses
• 2 tablespoons (30 g) unsalted butter
• 1 3/4 cups (420 ml) buttermilk

Method

1. Set a rack in the middle of the oven and heat it to 400°F (200°C). Rub the inside of the loaf pan with a little butter, then line the bottom and the two long sides with one strip of parchment paper, leaving the ends hanging over so you can lift the loaf out later.
2. Put the whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, bran, oats, baking soda and salt in the large bowl. Whisk for a full 30 seconds, and rub any small lumps of baking soda between your fingers. A pocket of unmixed soda leaves a bitter, yellow speck in the bread.
3. Stir the treacle into the warm melted butter until loosened, then stir that into the buttermilk. Make a hollow in the middle of the dry mixture and pour in the buttermilk mixture. With the large spoon, stir from the middle outward in big, slow circles, just until no dry flour remains. This should take less than a minute. If there are dry patches at the bottom, add buttermilk a tablespoon at a time.
4. Scrape the dough into the lined pan right away and level the top gently with the back of a wet spoon. Do not press it down.

Baking and cooling

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon old fashioned rolled oats

Method

1. Dip the sharp knife in water and cut a line about 1/2 inch (1.25 cm) deep down the middle of the loaf, along its length. This helps it rise evenly instead of cracking at random. Scatter the oats over the top.
2. Bake for 15 minutes at 400°F (200°C), then turn the oven down to 375°F (190°C) and bake for 30 to 35 minutes more. If the top is browning very quickly, lay a sheet of foil loosely over it for the last 15 minutes.
3. Lift the loaf out of the pan by the parchment and peel the paper away. Turn it upside down and knock on the bottom with your knuckle. If it sounds dull, put it back in the oven directly on the rack, without the pan, for 5 minutes more and test again. A thermometer pushed into the center from the base should read about 200°F (93°C).
4. Set the loaf on the wire rack. For a soft crust, wrap it in the clean kitchen towel while it cools, as many Irish bakers do; for a crisper crust, leave it uncovered. Let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

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