Irish Soda Bread
Wholemeal and white flour mixed dry with bicarbonate of soda and salt. Cold buttermilk poured in, stirred briefly with a wooden spoon and then gathered by hand into a rough ball. Patted onto a tray, scored with a deep cross to let it open in the oven, baked hot until the bottom thumps hollow. The cross is partly practical (helping the bread rise evenly), partly a blessing - "letting the fairies out", as the saying goes.