Soda Bread

This traditional Irish bread, made without yeast, is a useful standby for holidays, and other times when bread supplies might run out. A handful of currants or sultanas added to the dough makes a nice teabread, eaten with butter, hot from the oven. Ideally the bread should be made with buttermilk, which can now be bought from good grocers and delicatessen shops and costs a little more than the same quantity of milk. You can substitute sour milk (thickened but not separated).