Bannock (food)

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Traditional beremeal bannock, as made in Orkney, Scotland. The separated sector is a scone.

Bannock is any of a large variety of flat quick breads. The word can also be applied to any large, round article baked or cooked from grain. When a round bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges are often called scones. But in Scotland, the words bannock and scone are often used interchangeably.^[1][2]

[edit] British

"Bannock" is an Old English word of Celtic origin. It may have been the first word used to describe bread, as long ago as the fifth century A.D.^[2] The Oxford English Dictionary states that it stems from panicium, a Latin word for baked goods, from panis, bread. Its first cited use was in 1000, and its first cited definition in 1562. Its historic use was primarily in Scotland and Northern England.^[3] The Scottish poet Robert Burns mentions the bannock in his Epistle to James Tennant of Glenconner, in reference to Alexander Tennant.^[4]

The original bannocks were heavy, flat cakes of unleavened barley or oatmeal dough formed into a round or oval shape, then cooked on a griddle (or girdle, in the Scots language). Most modern bannocks are made with baking powder or baking soda as a leavening agent, giving them a light and airy texture.^[1][2][5]

Bannock varieties can be named or differentiated according to various characteristics: the flour or meal from which they are made, whether they are leavened or not, whether they have certain special ingredients, how they are baked or cooked, and the names of rituals or festivals in which they are used. Historically, specially made bannocks were used in rituals marking the changing of the Gaelic seasons: St. Bride's bannock for spring (February 1), Béaltaine bannock for summer (May 1), Lughnasadh or Lammas bannock for autumn harvests (August 1), and Samhain bannock for winter (end of October). Other special Scottish and Gaelic bannocks include beremeal bannock, bride's bannock, cod liver bannock, cryin' bannock, fallaid bannock, fife bannock, Hogmanay bannock, Marymas bannock, mashlum bannock, Michaelmas bannock, pease bannock, Pitcaithly bannock, salt bannock, sautie bannock, Silverweed bannock, St. Columba's bannock, teethin' bannock, Yetholm bannock, and Yule bannock.^[1]

A well-known Scottish bannock is the Selkirk Bannock, a spongy, buttery variety, sometimes compared to a fruitcake,^[6] made from wheat flour and containing a very large quantity of raisins. The first known maker of this variety was a baker named Robbie Douglas, who opened his shop in Selkirk in 1859. When Queen Victoria visited Sir Walter Scott's granddaughter at Abbotsford she is said to have taken her tea with a slice of Selkirk Bannock—ensuring that its reputation was enshrined forever.^[7] Today, Selkirk Bannocks are popular throughout Great Britain, and can be found at most large supermarkets.^[2]

[edit] Indigenous North Americans

Inuit bannock

An Inuk woman preparing bannock

Inuit women preparing to make bannock.

Bannock, also known as frybread or Indian bread,^[8] is found throughout North American native cuisine, including that of the Inuit/Eskimo of Canada and Alaska, other Alaska Natives, the First Nations of the rest of Canada, the Native Americans in the United States and the Métis.^[8][9]

As made by indigenous North Americans, bannock is generally prepared with white or whole wheat flour, baking powder and water, which are combined and kneaded (possibly with spices, dried fruits or other flavouring agents added) then fried in rendered fat, vegetable oil, or shortening, baked in an oven or cooked on a stick.^[9]

A type of bannock, using available resources, such as flour made from roots, tree sap and leavening agents, may have been produced by indigenous North Americans prior to contact with outsiders.^[9] Some sources indicate that bannock was unknown in North America until the 19th century when it was created by the Navajo who were incarcerated at Fort Sumner,^[10] while others indicate that it came from a Scottish source.^[8]

[edit] Tibetan

Balep korkun is a Tibetan bannock made from barley flour and cooked on a frying pan.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Scottish Wheat Bannock

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Fry Bread

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Frybread

• Oatmeal Bannock, from the Baking for Britain blog
• Welsh Bannock Traditions
• Cooking Bannock - Bushcraft Style