Friday 10th October, 2008
Oatcakes
In 1779, Rev. Richard Perryn, Rector of Standish wrote:
"The principal grain produced in the parish is oats; a little wheat and some barley are sown."
R. W. Dickson in 1815, writing about farming practices in Lancashire states:
"Oats are grown to a much greater extent then any other grain... a large portion of them being made into cakes or bread..."
It seems odd to think that, in the pre-Victorian era in the Wigan district, oats was the main grain crop and oat bread or oatcakes was the staple food.
In 1795, John Holt gives us a little more information. He confirms that oats, ground to meal, was the food of "the labouring classes". He continues:
"It is made into bread cakes, of which there are various kinds, prepared by fermentation with sour leaven; others without leaven, and rolled very thin; also water, boiled and thickened with meal into porridge; and this, eaten with sweet or buttermilk."
A little explanation is needed for the above paragraph. "Leaven" is a fermentation agent, presumably some kind of yeast.
“Sour leaven” refers to the practice of leaving a piece of the old dough in the mixing tub. The yeast would continue to grow and the new mix was added to the tub containing the old piece of dough. Sounds unhygienic, but it meant leaven did not have to be activated for every batch of oatcakes.
"Sweet" milk is milk as it comes out of the cow and "buttermilk" is what is left over from churning butter from cream.
I have tried, without success, to find a full recipe for Lancashire oatcakes. In Staffordshire, however, the tradition continues and many retail outlets continue to sell traditional Staffordshire oatcakes.
There is a recipe here.
Final Thought
At the time of writing, Wigan's Tesco sells "traditional Staffordshire oatcakes!"