Wikipedia

Ait cake

An ait cake (kent as havercakes or haverbread forby) is a flatbreid akin tae a cracker or biscuit,[1][2][3] bit can be a pan scone an aw. Thay are makkit wi aitmeal (havermeal) as the formaist ingredient, an can hae plain or halemeal floor forby.[4] Ait cakes are cuiked on a girdle[5][6] or baked in an uin.

Aitcake
Aitcakes
TeepCracker or biscuit
Place o oreeginScotland
Main ingredientsaits, sault, watter[1]
VariationsMonie
Cuikbeuk: Aitcake at Wikibooks  Media: Aitcake

History

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A pentin o a wumman in Yorkshire, Inglan, makkin ait cakes, pented bi George Walker (1781–1856). Image taen fae The costume of Yorkshire

Ait cakes haes been screived anent in Scotland sin lang syne (at least syne the the Roman conquest in AD 43) an aiblins existit afore than. Thay'v bin said tae be the mainstey o Scots breids fur hunners o years;[7] Jean Le Bel c. 1357-60 AD describes Beguine nuns makin "little pancakes rather like communion wafers". This is thocht tae be an earlie descreive o an ait cake.[8]

In Scotland

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In Scotland, ait cakes ur makkit on a girdle or by bakin roonds o aitmeal on a tray. Gin the roonds is muckle, thay'r scliced intae farls afore bakin. Aits is grains that graws weel in norlan Scotland an wur, till the 20t yearhunner, the staple grain uised.

Scots sodgers in the 14t yearhunner carried a metal plate an a sack o aitmeal. Eildins accoonts say that a sodger wid heat the plate ower fire, moisten a bit o aitmeal an mak a cake tae "comfort his stomach. Hence it is no marvel that the Scots should be able to make longer marches than other men".[9][10]

Samuel Johnson kenspeckle referred tae this in his dictionar definition fur oats (aits):

A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.

Lord Elibank wis said bi Sir Walter Scott to hae reponed;

Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?[11][a]

The texture kin vary fae reuch tae fine dependin on hou the aits is grund. Ait cakes kin be a wee chawy or solid, dependin on the watter content an fur hou lang thay'r cuikit. Ait cakes wis tradeetionally etten wi ilka meal as a muckle soorce o carbohydrate in the diet. Fae the 19t yearhunner onward, thay wur commonly sert tae accompany broths, meat, an fish dishes. Thay'r affen eten as an alternative tae breid or toast at brakfast thir days.[12][13][14]

At praisent, a wheen o brands of ait cakes are commercially available, siclike Nairn's, Stockan's, Paterson's, an Walkers. Outwith commercial manufacturers, there mony local bakers wi variations on the basic recipe.

Ireland

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Scots-style ait cakes is forby cuikit in Ireland.[15][16]

See an aw

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References

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  1. ↑ James Boswell attributes the selfsame quote tae hissel in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D., ch. 14 (1791): "Doctor Johnson proposed to define the word 'oats' thus: 'A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.' And I replied: 'Aye, and that's why England has such fine horses, and Scotland such fine people.'"
  1. ↑ a b Martin, James. "Oatcakes recipes". BBC Food. Retrieved 1 Mey 2014.
  2. ↑ Pippa Cuthbert; Lindsay Cameron Wilson (2007). Cookies!. New Holland Publishers. p. 68. ISBN 9781845376819. Archived frae the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. ↑ Cauvain & Young (26 August 2009). More Baking Problems Solved. Elsevier. p. 190. ISBN 9781845697204.
  4. ↑ Scott, Chloe (22 October 2013). "How to make the ultimate Staffordshire oatcake". Metro. Retrieved 25 Apryle 2014.
  5. ↑ Chambers English Dictionary. W. & R. Chambers and Cambridge University Press. 1987. pp. 599, 624. ISBN 1-85296-000-0.
  6. ↑ Mairi Robinson, ed. (1987). The Concise Scots Dictionary. Aberdeen University Press. p. 233. ISBN 0-08-028492-2.
  7. ↑ Albert, Susan Wittig (2010). The Tale of Oat Cake Crag. Penguin. p. 194. ISBN 978-1101459904.
  8. ↑ Le Bel, Jehan (1290–1360). The True Chronicles of Jean Le Bel. Scotland: Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2011. p. 40. ISBN 9781843836940.
  9. ↑ McNeill, Marian (1929). "Bannocks, Scones, and Tea-bread". The Scots Kitchen (1993 ed.). Blackie & Son Ltd/Mercat Press Ltd. p. 175. ISBN 1-84183-070-4.
  10. ↑ "Feasting with Shadows". Outremer.co.uk. Retrieved 6 Februar 2013.
  11. ↑ The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.: Including a Journal of His Tour to the Hebrides. Volume 3 by James Boswell. Edited by John Wilson Croker. Publisher: Derby & Jackson, New York, 1858. Page 11.
  12. ↑ Fuller, Barbara (2005). Great Britain. Marshall Cavendish. pp. 125. ISBN 0761418458.
  13. ↑ Elizabeth Foyster; Christopher A. Whatley (2009). A History of Everyday Life in Scotland, 1600 to 1800. Edinburgh University Press. p. 139.
  14. ↑ Alan Davidson & Tom Jain (2006). The Oxford companion to food. Oxford University Press. p. 185.
  15. ↑ http://antiquitynow.org/2014/03/12/bon-appetit-wednesday-celebrate-st-patricks-day-with-ancient-irish-oatcakes/
  16. ↑ "Captain Cuellar's Adventures in Connacht and Ulster". celt.ucc.ie. Retrieved 24 October 2019.

Further readin

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Wiktionar
Rake fer oatcake i the
Scots Wiktionar, the free Scots dictionar.
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