flipOatcakes — Travel Oat Biscuits
Oatcakes — Travel Oat Biscuits
Why this dish? Everyday bread and travel provisions in Scotland, oatcakes fed Hume from Ninewells to Edinburgh; dry and durable, they were slipped into the saddlebag on his journeys to France.
Thin oat biscuits baked on a girdle, unleavened, that keep for weeks. Rustic taste with a slightly bitter note from the toasted grain, perfect with cheese or honey.
Here is the bread of the North, the one they disdain in London and of which Scotland does very well. Mix oatmeal with a little melted fat and hot water, roll as thin as a leaf, and bake on the girdle until the edges curl. It keeps for whole weeks — I have always taken some in the post-chaise to France. A piece of cheese on top, and the traveler envies no feast.
- •Oatmeal — two handfuls (base)
- •Kidney fat or butter — a little melted (binder)
- •Hot water — as needed (hydration)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Oatcakes — Travel Oat Biscuits
Thin oat biscuits baked on a girdle, unleavened, that keep for weeks. Rustic taste with a slightly bitter note from the toasted grain, perfect with cheese or honey.
Why this dish? Everyday bread and travel provisions in Scotland, oatcakes fed Hume from Ninewells to Edinburgh; dry and durable, they were slipped into the saddlebag on his journeys to France.
Here is the bread of the North, the one they disdain in London and of which Scotland does very well. Mix oatmeal with a little melted fat and hot water, roll as thin as a leaf, and bake on the girdle until the edges curl. It keeps for whole weeks — I have always taken some in the post-chaise to France. A piece of cheese on top, and the traveler envies no feast.
Ingredients (period version)
- Oatmeal — two handfuls (base)
- Kidney fat or butter — a little melted (binder)
- Hot water — as needed (hydration)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Finely ground rolled oats (or oat flour) — 200 g (base)
- Melted butter — 30 g (binder)
- Hot water — 60-80 ml (hydration)
- Salt — 1/2 tsp (seasoning)
- Bicarbonate of soda — 1 pinch (optional) (texture)
Method
- Mix oats, salt and bicarbonate; stir in melted butter.
- Add hot water gradually until a soft, non-sticky dough forms.
- Roll out very thinly on an oat-dusted surface, cut into triangles (farls).
- Dry-fry on a hot pan or griddle for 4-5 minutes each side, or bake at 180°C for 15 minutes.
- Cool and dry on a rack; store in an airtight container.
How it was made : Without an oven in many homes, oatcakes were baked on the 'girdle', a cast-iron plate placed on the fire, then dried before the hearth to harden and keep. They were the basic ration of Scottish peasants, soldiers and travellers.
The contemporary twist : Broken into shards and served on a Scottish cheese board (crowdie, farmhouse cheddar) with heather honey.
Sources : F. Marian McNeill, The Scots Kitchen (1929) · Catherine Brown, Scottish Cookery (1985)
David Hume · Charactorium
