Extract taken from Wikipedia
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 which grow well in the north of Scotland and were, until the 20th century, the staple grain used.
Scottish soldiers in the 14th century carried a metal plate and a sack of oatmeal. According to contemporary accounts, one 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."
Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this staple diet in his dictionary definition for oats:
A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted
Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?
The texture may vary from rough to fine depending on how the oats are ground. Oatcakes may be slightly chewy or hard depending the water content and 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 onwards 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
Now on to my Oatcakes
The recipe I use was written down by my granny a long long time ago, it s the same recipe that is in my tatty old 1960 Molly Weir's book (a Scottish cook)
4oz of fine oatmeal
A pinch of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp of melted bacon fat or dripping
Hot water to mix
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 which grow well in the north of Scotland and were, until the 20th century, the staple grain used.
Scottish soldiers in the 14th century carried a metal plate and a sack of oatmeal. According to contemporary accounts, one 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."
Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this staple diet in his dictionary definition for oats:
A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.
Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted
Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?
The texture may vary from rough to fine depending on how the oats are ground. Oatcakes may be slightly chewy or hard depending the water content and 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 onwards 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
Now on to my Oatcakes
The recipe I use was written down by my granny a long long time ago, it s the same recipe that is in my tatty old 1960 Molly Weir's book (a Scottish cook)
4oz of fine oatmeal
A pinch of baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp of melted bacon fat or dripping
Hot water to mix
Mix the dry ingredients then pour melted fat in the centre, mix to a soft consistency with the hot water
Roll out on to floured surface and cut to shape
cook on a hot griddle until the edges curl
haven't got a griddle then use a heavy frying pan
or pop in a hot oven
leave to cool and crisp up and eat keep in an airtight container if they do go soft just pop back in the oven to crisp up again.
that is all there is to it :-)
that is all there is to it :-)
Thanks for the recipe, I like the look of those, I will try them with a different veggie suitable oil though :)
ReplyDeleteWho knew it was so simple - well, you obviously, but who else! xx
ReplyDeleteI like oatcakes but no-one else does so I haven't made any for ages. I grew up with porridge with no milk and and a touch of salt - these days I'm afraid it's milk and sugar on the top!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know Molly Weir wrote a cookbook. I loved all her autobiographical books. I even managed to download one on kindle a few months ago. Our house is filled with books so I thought that would be easier - but only one Molly weir to download..oh.. Andrina
I found it in a charity shop many moons ago
DeleteIt's a long time since I heard Molly Weirs name, didn't she appear on the tele maybe in the 70's on one of the daytime shows maybe?
ReplyDeleteOatcakes are so simple to make yet cost a fortune if you buy 'artisan' versions.
She use to do the cooking with Lyons series on TV.
DeleteThank you for posting the recipe. I've never seen oatmeal like a flour, I'll have to see if I can find it. Really looking forward to making them.
ReplyDeleteI got mine in Tesco, its just a fine oatmeal
DeleteWe don't have Tesco here (Canada) but I did find it at The Bulk Store, so I'm looking forward to making them
DeleteI'll put this on my "to try list" although I've never been on bought ones.
ReplyDeleteyou can jazz them up with herbs as well
DeleteNow, that is something I have never tried. Sounds delicious.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I imagine you probably want to get rid of that white highlight behind your pasted text from wikipedia? If so just go to your post editor in blogger and highlight the text (after clicking on "edit" for that post in your post list) by holding down the left mouse button. Let go of the button and it should stay highlighted. Now in the tool bar of the edit menu, above the post, click on the icon that looks like a Big "T" with a small red "x" beside it. Like this "Tx" except the x is red. This removes the other site's formatting that is causing the white highlight and the unwanted highlight will now disappear from your blog post. Set the text size to your usual. Click "update" and go look at your blog post. The white highlight will be gone. :)
Thanks I didnt even notice that the text was highlighted :-)
Delete