Oatcake
- For the Stoke City F.C. fanzine, see The Oatcake (Fanzine).
An oatcake is a type of cracker or pancake, made from oatmeal, and sometimes flour as well. Oatcakes are cooked on a griddle.
Oatcakes may be more familiar to Americans in the form of their cousin, the Johnnycake, made of cornmeal, often cooked on a board or shovel, even stones, just as Scots in the past.
Scottish oatcakes
Oatcakes are widely considered to be the national bread of Scotland, and have held that position for many centuries. They were even baked by the Romans in Scotland. They are made almost entirely of oats, the only cereal to flourish in northern Scotland. Traditionally, each community had its own mill to grind oats from local crofts and supply oatmeal for every household. These oats formed the Highlanders' staple diet of porridge and oatcakes.
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."[1]
On his tour of the Highlands of Scotland Dr Samuel Johnson was said to remark to James Boswell that in England the oat was given to horses and not to men. To which Boswell responded: "Which is why England is noted for its horses and Scotland for its men."
Nowadays, many brands of oatcakes are commercially available, such as Nairns, Paterson's, and Walkers.
Similar oatcakes are produced in Ireland, in a shared tradition with the Scottish. Ditty's is a brand of Irish oatcake.
North Staffordshire and Derbyshire oatcakes
A North Staffordshire oatcake is a type of pancake made from oatmeal, flour and yeast, and cooked on a griddle. It is a local speciality in the North Staffordshire area of England, and so may be known to non-locals as a Staffordshire oatcake or Potteries oatcake. In and around the Potteries and south Cheshire, they are simply known as oatcakes.
Derbyshire Oatcakes are similar to Staffordshire Oatcakes, but generally smaller in diameter.[2]
Until the Industrial Revolution oatcakes were commonly produced throughout Britain. As the ceramics industry grew people started to produce oatcakes using the traditional rural recipes in front room kitchens for sale through the window directly to the street. This was once common throughout the Potteries. A few of these still remain though most oatcakes are now produced by larger commercial concerns.
When pre-cooked, it is a form of fast food, and catering outlets in the area usually offer oatcakes with fillings such as cheese, tomato, onion, bacon, sausage and egg. They are also eaten with sweet fillings such as jam. They are traditionally re-heated by steaming between two plates over a saucepan of water or nowadays by microwave, though some may prefer frying in butter or grilling. Pikelets are a thicker, sweeter variant often containing dried fruit and are more often served smothered in butter at teatime.
The Stoke City Football Club fanzine is called The Oatcake. They are available in supermarkets throughout Britain and can also been found in Rhyl and Towyn in North Wales, possibly due to the large number of people from Stoke-on-Trent who holiday or have retired here.
References
- Sinclair, Molly. Scottish Heritage Cookbook. Heritage Cookbooks. Mission San Jose, California: 1990.