Bread in Europe They are very light, contain preservatives (e.g. ethyl alcohol) and have a very long shelf life (often more than a month). In Ireland it is traditionally held that the end of a loaf of bread (the "heel" of the loaf) is the best part of the loaf. Other stories and myths surround this piece of the bread in Irish mythology. Irish soda bread, developed to make the most of the soft wheat grown in Ireland, is unusual for a European bread in that it is a quick bread, using the reaction of buttermilk and baking soda rather than yeast to
J. H. Hobbs, Brockunier and Company experiments were not successful. In the fall of the same year, William Leighton Sr. joined the firm as a partner, and continued the experiments with lime glass. Leighton came from a glass making family, and had worked at New England Glass Company. In 1864, Leighton had success. His major change in the formula for glass was using bicarbonate of soda instead of soda ash. His formula was similar to the long-lost soda-lime formula used many years earlier in Europe. The glass made using this formula had good enough quality that the company could compete in the high-end of the glassware