Oatcakes, Pancakes and Bannocks

Oatcakes have been part of the Scots’ staple diet for centuries, with references to Scottish soldiers packing in their bags some oatmeal and a broad metal plate on which to cook oatcakes. It is recorded that Bonnie Prince Charlie’s patriotic Highland soldiers set up roadside stalls to provide fresh oatmeal bannocks. The word bannock is interchangeable with oatcake in the west of Scotland. In the east and north-east, a bannock usually contains a proportion of wheat flour with the oatmeal to make a softer version. In this chapter, an oatcake means a crisp little biscuit.