Recipe Traditional Staffordshire Oatcakes

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So, what's the difference between a Staffordshire oatcake, a Derbyshire oatcake and a Scottish oatcake?

The easy one first. An oatcake to this lass, born in Glasgow and raised in the Potteries is that it is a large flat yeast and oatmeal replacement for a pancake, originally designed to replace the Indian chipatti! It's not a small, hard, savoury biscuit!

The difference between a Derbyshire and a Staffordshire oatcake is simple. In Derbyshire, they are made traditionally by using milk, not water. It's the traditional Staffordshire oatcake that if anyone has come across them,they tend to know and I'm making the Staffordshire version here!

Recipe
  • 250g (8oz) flour, strong white & strong wholemeal 50:50
  • 250g (8oz) porridge oats ground and sifted or oatmeal
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • Roughly 800 ml water
  • 12g fresh yeast (I use keep it frozen) or 1 tsp dried yeast if you must!
Method
  1. In a small bowl, set the fresh yeast going with the sugar and a little water, and set aside in a warm location to start going. It would should be frothy when used.
  2. In another larger mixing bowl mix the wholemeal, white flour, oatmeal or ground porridge oats and salt.
  3. Add most of the liquid a little at a time to the larger bowl, beating well to ensure no lumps. You want the consistency of double cream, so add the water carefully towards the end.
  4. When the yeast is ready, stir it in, cover your bowl with a damp tea towel and set aside for at least a couple of hours to ferment. It should thicken slightly but more importantly, it should be frothy! You can leave it overnight in a cooler location if you want them fresh for breakfast!
  5. Heat a griddle or heavy bottom frying pan and grease lightly with oil.
  6. Add about 1 soup ladle to the griddle, swirl round quickly to coat the bottom and cook for a couple of minutes on each side until lightly brown.
  7. Remove, place in a warm location and repeat until you have about 12 Staffordshire oatcakes.

Serving suggestions.

To serve, traditionally the Staffordshire oatcake is reheated (under a grill or on the griddle) crisping one side, then adding your topping before folding in half or rolling.

Suggested Toppings.
  • Melted cheese
  • Melted cheese and bacon
  • Scrambled egg
  • Melted cheese and fried onions
  • Melted cheese with fried mushrooms
  • Fried onion and mushrooms...
  • The remains of last night's curry!
  • ...
The curry option or any tomato based but spicy food is not as daft as it seems because the origin of the oatcake is believed to be based on a failed attempt at recreating chipatti.

Photos to follow but here's the mixture starting to ferment.

DSC_0577.JPG
 
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On the griddle...
DSC_0581.JPG


Cooling down...
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All done...
DSC_0587.JPG


They now get frozen in small batches, to be defrosted as needed. One side is then grilled, the oatcake turned over and filling added, then folded in half, or rolled. Or the oatcake is reheated on the griddle and the topping added whilst it is on it.
 
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