Being queen of Chicago’s St. Patrick’s Day parade comes with several duties leading up to the big day on March 15.
But the toughest, according to this year’s honoree, Cara Walsh, was a task she undertook Saturday at Reilly’s Daughter pub: soda bread contest judge.
Walsh and 19 other judges sampled the traditional Irish dish, made with flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk. A whopping 121 loaves were entered, most of which contained raisins — largely an American addition, according to several bakers. The entries were also adorned with vibrant green decor, including ribbons, figurines, beads and clover-shaped lights.
“While I’m judging and critiquing, you’ll look up from the soda bread piece you’re eating and there’ll be people in the window watching you, like, ‘Did she like it? Did she smile?’” said Walsh, 27, of Lincoln Park. “They’re quite intense.”
And for good reason. First prize is a free round-trip flight for two to Ireland.
Now in its 35th year, the annual contest is run by the Oak Lawn bar’s owners, Boz O’Brien and his son, Brendan. It has become a tradition for generations of local Irish families. The competition is fierce, but the camaraderie and joy are the real draw.
“Look at the community that comes out,” Walsh said. “It’s packed the room at noon on a Saturday. It really gets everyone excited for St. Patrick’s Day, too, which is good for our culture and our heritage.”
This year’s grand prize winner, Lorraine O’Malley, was a first-time participant but a long-time patron of the bar.
“I can’t even believe it,” said O’Malley, 51, of Western Springs, who used a recipe from her great aunt. “I grew up coming here in college and post-college, and I feel a connection with this place. I just love it.”
O’Malley, a mom of two grown daughters, said she wasn’t quite sure who would accompany her on the trip to Ireland.
“Both of my girls have been like, ‘Let’s go,’” she said. “My sister’s here. She was kind of lobbying for the second ticket, so, we’ll see.”
The second-place prize, $300 in cash, went to Melinda Stalker, 36, who serves on the Oak Lawn Park District board of commissioners. It was her second year participating.
“I made it Wednesday for my coworkers, and they all loved it, so I took it as a good sign,” she said.
Following in the footsteps of her mother, who once placed in the competition, Stalker said she figured she’d represent the family this time around.
“I’ve been coming here for years and years,” she said. “It’s traditional music, traditional values and it’s a good time.”
The third-place winner was given $200 in cash, while the fourth- and fifth-place winners were rewarded with gift cards.
The event was, indeed, a daylong party that featured live music. However, the competition was serious business. Among the long list of judges were community members, business people and politicians, including Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart; state Sen. Bill Cunningham; Far Southwest Side Ald. Matt O’Shea, (19th); Evergreen Park Mayor Kelly Burke; and Rep. Mary Gill, D-Chicago. They judged the bread on taste, texture and presentation, and deliberated in a private room. A bagpipe player led judges into the pub.
Participants are not above attempts at bribery, Boz O’Brien said. In fact, former judge Jack Higgins, the late Pulitzer Prize-winning Sun-Times editorial cartoonist, discovered an incentive one year.
“He cut a bread open to test it, and a little old Irish lady had baked two $5 bills into the bread,” Boz O’Brien recalled.
One of this year’s participants, Mary Corcoran, didn’t appear to have any bribes, but she did make her loaf with a cross on top — a tradition in Ireland, where she is from.
“That’s to knead the devil out of the bread,” said Corcoran, of Mount Greenwood, who is over 70.
“The soda bread here is more of a sweet cake, whereas in Ireland, it is more of a whole wheat bread made with brown flour and white flour,” she said. “We wouldn’t know what to do with raisins in Ireland in soda bread. My mom would make two loaves of bread every day. We would put lots of Kerrygold butter on it.”
Corcoran, who’s been coming to Reilly’s Daughter pub for 15 years, said she looks forward to the contest each year.
Boz O’Brien said he started the event as a way to encourage the neighborhood to try soda bread. The nearly 50-year-old bar also hosts an annual Irish coffee competition.
“I really believe that running a bar, you’ve got to be part showman, part activist, and you just have to like people,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed it all these years.”