 Oatcakes | |
| Type | Cracker or biscuit |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Main ingredients | Oats, salt, water (Scottish variety) [1] |
An oatcake is a type of flatbread similar to a cracker or biscuit, [1] [2] [3] or in some versions takes the form of a pancake. They are prepared with oatmeal as the primary ingredient, and sometimes include plain or wholemeal flour as well. [4] Oatcakes are cooked on a griddle (girdle in Scots) [5] [6] or baked in an oven.
Oatcakes have been documented as existing in Scotland since at least the time of the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, and likely before then. [7] [ unreliable source? ] Oatcakes have also been described as being the "mainstay of Scottish breads for centuries". [7] [ unreliable source? ] Jean Le Bel, around AD 1357-60 describes the Beguine nuns making "little pancakes rather like communion wafers". This is thought to be an early description of a Scottish oatcake. [8]
Oatcake variations exist based upon the different preparations in various countries and regions.
Seen as a typically Scottish food item, oatcakes have also long been made elsewhere in Britain. [9] Oatcakes may replace toast at breakfast in Scotland. [10]
Queen Elizabeth II typically had Scottish oatcakes for breakfast [11] and Walkers Oatcakes carry a Royal Warrant. [12] British Prime Minister David Cameron named Scottish oatcakes as his favourite cake. [13]
The Universal British Directory of Trade, Commerce and Manufacture of the 1790s notes the bread of High Furness being thin oatcakes, whilst in Lancashire a leavened oatcake known as riddle bread was made. [14] The Staffordshire oatcake is quite different from those from Scotland, being more of a pancake in form, containing a significant proportion of wheat flour along with oatmeal. [3] [4] In Yorkshire, oatcakes are cooked from the bottom only, and the tops are bubbly in appearance. [1]
The Duke of Wellington's Regiment was nicknamed the Havercakes due to their recruiting sergeants bearing oat cakes on the end of their swords. [15] [16]
In Scotland, oatcakes are made on a girdle (or griddle, in other forms of English) or by baking rounds of oatmeal on a tray. If the rounds are large, they are sliced into farls before baking. Oats are one of the few grains that grow well in the north of Scotland and were, until the 20th century, the staple grain eaten in that area.
Scottish soldiers in the 14th century carried a metal plate and a sack of oatmeal. According to contemporary accounts, a soldier would heat the plate over fire, moisten a bit of oatmeal and make a cake to "comfort his stomach. Hence it is no marvel that the Scots should be able to make longer marches than other men." [17] [18]
Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this staple diet in his dictionary definition for oats:
Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted
The texture may vary from rough to fine depending on how the oats are ground. Oatcakes may be slightly chewy or hard, depending on the water content and for how long they are cooked. Oatcakes were traditionally eaten with every meal as a major source of carbohydrate in the diet. From the 19th century onward, they were commonly served to accompany soups, meat, and fish dishes. Today, they are sometimes eaten as an alternative to bread or toast at breakfast. [20] [21]
Nowadays, many brands of oatcakes are commercially available, such as Nairn's, Stockan's, Paterson's, and Walkers. [22] Apart from those larger commercial manufacturers of oatcakes, there are many local bakers providing variations on the basic recipe.
In Wales, oatcakes tend to resemble savoury pancakes. [1] They were sometimes crumbled up and used as one of the ingredients of brewis, a staple breakfast.[ citation needed ]
Oatcakes similar to the Scottish variety are produced in Ireland, [23] in shared tradition with the Scots. [24] Ditty's is a Northern Irish brand of oatcake. [25] [26]
Scottish immigrants to the New World brought the recipe for this sustaining food to Canada. One such journey was HMS Elizabeth, which brought immigrants to Prince Edward Island in 1775. Caught in a storm just off the coast of the island, the settlers and crew all survived and made it to the island in life boats, where they waited for three days for the storm to die down. When they returned to their ship to retrieve their possessions and provisions, they discovered that several barrels of oats were among the few foodstuffs that remained. The oats were full of sand and salt water, but that didn't stop them from breaking out the frying pans and cooking oatcakes as their first meal in days. One settler wrote in his journal, "This I thought was the Sweetest morsel I ever Ate in my life though the Outside was burnt black and the middle was not half done". [27]
Oatcakes in Canada gradually[ when? ] moved from being a mainstay of the diet to being a part of afternoon tea. Sweet and savoury versions were developed, to be served with jam or cheese respectively.
Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground), rolled, or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are known as coarse oatmeal, Irish oatmeal, or pinhead oats. Rolled oats were traditionally thick old-fashioned oats, but can be made thinner or smaller, and may be categorized as quick oatmeal or instant oatmeal depending on the cooking time required, which is determined by the size of the oats and the amount of precooking.
A pancake is a flat cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk and butter and cooked on a hot surface such as a griddle or frying pan, often frying with oil or butter. It is a type of batter bread. Archaeological evidence suggests that pancakes were probably eaten in prehistoric societies.
A griddle, in the UK typically referred to simply as a "frying pan" or "flat top", is a cooking device consisting mainly of a broad, usually flat cooking surface. Nowadays it can be either a movable metal pan- or plate-like utensil, a flat heated cooking surface built into a stove or kitchen range, or a compact cooking machine with its own heating system attached to an integrated griddle acting as a cooktop.
A scone is a traditional British baked good, popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is usually made of either wheat or oatmeal with baking powder as a leavening agent, and baked on sheet pans. A scone is often slightly sweetened and occasionally glazed with egg wash. The scone is a basic component of the cream tea. It differs from teacakes and other types of sweets that are made with yeast. Scones were chosen as the Republic of Ireland representative for Café Europe during the Austrian presidency of the European Union in 2006, while the United Kingdom chose shortbread.
Soda bread is a variety of quick bread traditionally made in a variety of cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate is used as a leavening agent instead of the traditional yeast. The ingredients of traditional soda bread are flour, baking soda, salt, and buttermilk. The buttermilk in the dough contains lactic acid, which reacts with the baking soda to form tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Other ingredients can be added, such as butter, egg, raisins, or nuts. An advantage of quick breads is their ability to be prepared quickly and reliably, without requiring the time-consuming skilled labor and temperature control needed for traditional yeast breads.
A crumpet is a small griddle bread made from an unsweetened batter of water or milk, flour, and yeast, popular in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
A farl is any of various quadrant-shaped flatbreads and cakes, traditionally made by cutting a round into four pieces. In Ulster, the term generally refers to soda bread and, less commonly, potato bread, which are also ingredients of an Ulster fry.
Boxty is a traditional Irish potato pancake. The dish is mostly associated with the north midlands, north Connacht and southern Ulster, in particular the counties of Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Fermanagh, Longford, and Cavan. There are many recipes but all contain finely grated, raw potatoes and all are served fried.
Potato bread is a form of bread in which potato flour or potato replaces a portion of the regular wheat flour. It is cooked in a variety of ways, including baking it on a hot griddle or pan, or in an oven. It may be leavened or unleavened, and may have a variety of other ingredients baked into it. The ratio of potato to wheat flour varies significantly from recipe to recipe, with some recipes having a majority of potato, and others having a majority of wheat flour. Some recipes call for mashed potatoes, with others calling for dehydrated potato flakes. It is available as a commercial product in many countries, with similar variations in ingredients, cooking methods, and other variables.
A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pita bread.
A bannock is a variety of flatbread or quick bread cooked from flour, typically round, which is common in Scotland and other areas in the British Isles. They are usually cut into sections before serving.
Parkin is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with oatmeal and black treacle, which originated in Northern England. Often associated with Yorkshire, it is widespread and popular elsewhere, notably in Lancashire. Parkin is baked to a hard cake but with resting becomes moist and even sometimes sticky. There are regional differences, for example in Hull and East Yorkshire, it has a drier, more biscuit-like texture than in other areas whereas in Lancashire it is generally made with golden syrup rather than the treacle used elsewhere. Parkin is traditionally eaten on Guy Fawkes Night, 5 November, and when celebrating 'Yorkshire Day' on 1 August. But is also enjoyed throughout the winter months. It is baked commercially throughout Yorkshire, but is mainly a domestic product in other areas.
Johnnycake, also known as journey cake, johnny bread, hoecake, shawnee cake or spider cornbread, is a cornmeal flatbread, a type of batter bread. An early American staple food, it is prepared on the Atlantic coast from Newfoundland to Jamaica. The food originates from the indigenous people of North America. It is still eaten in the Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Saint Croix, The Bahamas, Colombia, Bermuda, Curaçao and Puerto Rico as well as in the United States and Canada.
Scottish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Scotland. It has distinctive attributes and recipes of its own, but also shares much with other British and wider European cuisine as a result of local, regional, and continental influences—both ancient and modern.
A tattie scone or potato scone is a regional variant of the savoury griddle scone which is especially popular in Scotland. Many variations of the recipe exist. They generally include liberal quantities of boiled potatoes, butter and salt.
A full breakfast is a substantial cooked breakfast meal, often served in Great Britain and Ireland. The typical ingredients are bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast, fried bread and a beverage such as coffee or tea. Hash browns are a common contemporary but non-traditional inclusion. Ingredients may extend beyond these or include regional variants, which may often be referred to by different names depending on the area. While it is colloquially known as a "fry-up" in most areas of the United Kingdom and Ireland, it is usually referred to as a "full English", a "full Irish", "full Scottish", "full Welsh", and "Ulster fry", in England, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, respectively.
A Staffordshire oatcake is a type of dense, savoury pancake made from oatmeal, flour and yeast. It is cooked on a griddle, "backstone" or "baxton". The oatcake is a local speciality in the North Staffordshire area of England. They are normally referred to as Staffordshire oatcakes by non-locals, because they are made in and around Staffordshire and Cheshire; locally they are simply called "oatcakes".
Northern Irish cuisine encompasses the cooking styles, traditions and recipes associated with Northern Ireland. It has distinctive attributes of its own, but has also drawn heavily from Irish and British cuisines.
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