1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 tbsp sugar, granulated
2 tsp baking powder salt
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/3 cup raisins, optional water; approx,
Directions
"Bannock, a simple type of scone was cooked in pioneer days over open
fires. Variations in flours and the additional of dried or fresh
fruit make this bread the simple choice of Canadian campers even
today. Oven baking has become an acceptable alternative to the cast
iron frypan. McKelvie's restaurant in Halifax serves an oatmeal
version similar to this one. For plain bannock, omit rolled oats and
increase the all purpose flour to 1 cup.... One of the earliest quick
breads, bannock was as simple as flour, salt, a bit of fat (often
bacon grease) and water. In gold rush days, dough was mixed right in
the prospector's flour bag and cooked in a frypan over an open fire.
Indians wrapped a similar dough around sticks driven into the ground
beside their camp fire, baking it along with freshly caught fish.
Today's native _Fried Bread_ is like bannock and cooked in a skillet.
Newfoundlander's _Damper Dogs_ are small rounds of dough cooked on
the stove's dampers while _Toutons_ are similar bits of dough deep
fried. At a promotional luncheon for the 1992 Inuit Circumpolar
Conference, Eskimo Doughnuts, deep fried rings of bannock dough, were
served. It is said that Inuit children prefer these "doughnuts" to
sweet cookies.
Red River settlers from Scotland made a frugal bannock with lots of
flour, little sugar and drippings or lard. Now this same bread plays a
prominent part in Winnipeg's own Folklorama Festival.
At Expo '86 in Vancouver, buffalo on bannock buns was a popular
item at the North West Territories ' restaurant. In many regions of
Canada, whole wheat flour or wheat germ replaces part of the flour
and cranberries or blueberries are sometimes added. A Saskatchewan
firm markets a bannock mix, and recipe books from coast to coast
upgrade bannock with butter, oatmeal, raisins, cornmeal and dried
fruit."
Stir together flours, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add melted
butter, raisins (if using) and water, adding more water if needed to
make sticky dough. With floured hands, pat into greased pie plate.
Bake in 400F oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until browned and tester
comes out clean. Cut into wedges. SERVES:6 VARIATIONS: In place of
raisins add chopped dried apricots or fresh berries.(Blueberries are
terrific if one is camping in northern Ontario in August.)
SOURCE: "The First Decade" chapter in _A Century of Canadian Home
Cooking_
Servings: 6 servings
Bannock - Scottish Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Bread; Breads; Camping
The History of Recipes
It is quite possible to follow the history of written cooking instructions way back into ancient history, at least as far back as pharonic Egypt, and quite possibly further than that. In practice though, mostly, these early recipes were just very simple pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for meal preparation.
The truth of the matter is, the oldest recipe found, according to experts are a few clay tablets in Sumerian which show the preparation of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel blissful and exhilarated. As we move into Roman times around 25BC a man called Apicius created a collection of scripts detailing recipes enjoyed by his fellow Romans. In his scrolls, Apicius tells us how the meals of wealthy Romans were split into starters, main course and afters, known in latin as `Gustatio, Primae Mensae and Secundae Mensae`. He also informs us how the ancient cooks used many aromatic flavors, including a few that will be familiar to modern cooks for example bay, fennel and parsley. Moving on, we have two recipe books which were published in the fourteenth century ; a recipe book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are a little misleading though, they are unconnected to the spicy food that is served today, but instead accounts of the types of meals on the menues of the rich and powerful of that time. Later, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought us a variety of foods and spices from the East, including spices like rosemary and coriander. The introduction of these new tastes was responsible for a torrent in cookery books, some of which are kept safe in private libraries. By the advent of the 1900s, cooking publications are highly popular as a result of increased literacy, people having increased free time and disposable income. |
We hope you enjoy this Bannock Scottish recipe.
