Time Travel Kitchen
Delia’s Bread
I always think about my great-grandmother Delia when St. Patrick’s Day comes around. I wish I’d known her, but I do know some of her story.
She sailed from Queenstown (now Cobh) in Ireland on the Cunard passenger steamship Carpathia in 1903, en route to New York City. Carpathia — the ship that nine years later would come to the aid of Titanic.
She made the voyage with her two-year-old twin nieces, Nora and Delia and her eight-month old infant son, William - my paternal grandfather. They traveled in steerage.
The manifest has a ‘no’ checked next to the questions as to whether my great-grandmother was an anarchist or polygamist. She was listed as Housekeeper and Mother.
In a New York City tenement on 10th Avenue her husband Martin, my great-grandfather, was waiting for them. Delia wanted to have her baby in Ireland and stay with her mother longer, so Martin sailed to New York three months earlier on the Ivernia.
My grandfather was born in Liscannor, just down the road from the Cliffs of Moher. He was the greatest and used to talk about the bread his mother made, how good it was and how you just couldn’t get good bread anymore. This was during the 1960’s and usually he was staring down a loaf of sliced supermarket white bread when he said it.
I make this soda bread every year and think Delia and my grandfather would approve. It’s delicious with Kerrygold butter. I’m also a big fan of Barry’s Irish Tea to go with it. (I’m not sponsored by these brands, I just love them.)
My go-to recipe is from the great Darina Allen of Ballymaloe House in County Cork.
Here is the link. I think you’ll love this traditional Soda Bread:
Chefs for Ukraine
Last week I wrote about World Central Kitchen and the work they are doing to feed refugees on the borders between Ukraine and its neighbors in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary.
World Central Kitchen is there to meet them with a hot meal and a warm greeting. I invite you to visit their website to learn more about this wonderful organization.
Link: World Central Kitchen
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Have a good weekend, Everyone.
Sláinte 🍻☘️
Jolene
Traveling alone with three small kids in steerage. 😱 Poor Delia. Glad you posted this, Jolene, and I'll make it. I was baffled by the differences between Irish-American soda bread, and Irish soda bread in the UK (much like that in Ireland), which was plain and not sweet. Indeed, In Ireland, it's whole-wheat. I loved the family recipe an Irish-American friend from NY gave me, but it was a totally different beast. I later learned that the fancier American soda bread, with sugar and lots of raisins, was a special occasion bake in Ireland, made everyday in America thanks to affluence. I can't swear that is true, but I wouldn't be surprised.
A delightful slice of family history to savor, plus the perfect accompaniment, Irish soda bread. And the Cliffs of Moher! What a treat, Jolene!