Alright, let me tell you about my little adventure trying to get my hands on some Irish soda bread the other day. Woke up thinking about it, you know? Just had that craving for a slice, nice and dense, maybe with a bit of butter.
So, first stop, I went down to my usual big supermarket. Figured they’d have it, they seem to stock everything else under the sun. Headed straight for the bakery section. Looked high and low. Lots of sourdough, plenty of baguettes, stacks of sliced white bread… but no soda bread. Not a sign of it. I even flagged down one of the staff, asked him about it. He looked a bit puzzled, checked his little scanner thing, and just shrugged. Said they didn’t carry it, maybe around St. Patrick’s Day, but not usually.
Okay, Plan B
Didn’t give up there. Thought, okay, maybe it’s more of a specialty thing. Drove over to that slightly posher food shop across town, the one with all the imported goods and fancy cheeses. Surely they’d have it. Walked in, felt optimistic. Searched their bread shelves. Again, lots of nice looking loaves, artisan stuff, but nothing that looked like proper Irish soda bread. Asked the person at the counter this time. She was nicer about it, said they sometimes get it from a local baker but hadn’t had any in for a while. Suggested I try calling the baker directly, but honestly, I wasn’t looking to make a whole project out of it.
At this point, I was getting a bit frustrated. How hard could it be to buy a loaf of soda bread? I tried one more place, a smaller independent grocery store closer to my house. It’s one of those places that’s been there forever. Didn’t hold out much hope, to be honest.
Success, Finally!
And guess what? Tucked away on a lower shelf, almost hidden behind some other rustic loaves, there it was! Found it! Just a couple of loaves left. Looked pretty authentic too, nice and round with the cross cut on top. Felt like I’d struck gold after all that running around.
Grabbed one, paid the nice older lady at the till, and took it home. Have to say, after all that effort, sitting down with a slice and a cup of tea felt pretty darn good. It was simple, dense, exactly what I was after. Sometimes the simple things really do require a bit of a hunt, eh?
