Soda bread published containing a recipe for Soda Cake. In Europe, soda breads began to appear in the mid-19th century when bicarbonate of soda first became available for use as a raising agent. Breads, griddle cakes and scones with bicarbonate of soda, plus cream of tartar or tartaric acid became popular in Austria, Britain, Ireland and Poland. Traditional soda bread, eaten in Serbian cuisine, also uses bicarbonate of soda, particularly the traditional "česnica" (Serbian Cyrillic: Чесница), a soda bread made at Christmas. In Ireland, the flour is typically made from soft wheat, so soda bread is best made with a cake or
Buttermilk facilitates the butter churning process, since fat from cream with a lower pH coalesces more readily than that of fresh cream. The acidic environment also helps prevent potentially harmful microorganisms from growing, increasing shelf-life. However, in establishments that used cream separators, the cream is hardly acidic at all. On the Indian subcontinent, the term "buttermilk" refers to the liquid left over after extracting butter from churned cream. Today, this is called "traditional buttermilk". Traditional buttermilk is still common in many Indian, Nepalese, and Pakistani households, but rarely found in Western countries. In Nepal, buttermilk is called "mohi" and is a