Brown soda bread, baked every morning by Nana in a kitchen in Dorchester exactly the way her mother baked it in Mayo — a cross cut deep in the top, to let the fairies out.
Ingredients
Wholemeal and white flour, about two to one
Bread soda and salt
Buttermilk — enough, and then a little more
Method
Mix fast with a light hand and don't knead. Shape into a round, cut a deep cross, and bake hot. Knock the bottom: it should sound hollow.