My cell phone rang last Friday and the voice on the other end of the phone asked “caraway or no caraway in your Irish soda bread? There are two schools of thought on what’s tasty in Irish soda bread, where do you stand?” I matched the voice to a friend who happens to be Irish and happens to have celiacs in her family. She is probably the best gluten-free baker I know.
“Caraway for sure” was my answer and then I asked if she was just randomly polling those of us from Irish descent or was there another reason for the question. Her reason was a good one, she had big baking plans over the weekend for friends and neighbors, including a big batch of gluten-free Irish Soda Bread.
A ridiculously fierce storm blew into town this past weekend and in dealing with weather complications, I forgot all about that phone call until someone rang my doorbell on Sunday. There she was with a beautifully wrapped loaf of gluten-free Irish soda bread. Her timing was impeccable since we were sitting down that evening for our corned beef dinner.
Our loaf of gluten-free Irish soda bread, with caraway, was gone by breakfast. That was a far better treat than a green, gluten-free beer. I tried to insist that it was just for the celiacs but it was too good and everyone got into the act of devouring it. Next step for me is to get her recipe with her gluten-free flour alterations because a year is just too long to wait for another loaf.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day
