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
Food historians have found proof that recipes existed way back into distant history, in truth as far into history as the ancient Egyptians, and possibly even further. Interesting though that maybe, in the main part, these early recipes were just basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
Closer to modern times, there were two interesting recipe books which date from the 1300s - a recipe book published under the title `Forme of Cury`, and another entitled `Curye on Inglish`. Although the titles sound familiar, these are unconnected to the indian curry that is popular today, but instead accounts of the types of food prepared for the nobility of those days. In the fifteenth century, knights returning from the crusades brought back many new spices and herbs from Arab countries, such as coriander, basil and rosemary. These new spices and herbs prompted an eruption in books on cooking, many of which are now in private libraries. Like it or not, the introduction of television brings us celebrity chefs and the accompanying recipe books. Which pretty much brings us up to date and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to search through thousands of recipes such as those found on our site. |
We hope you enjoy this Bannock Scottish recipe.
