Bannock History

The bannock, from the Gaelic bhannag, is a flat bread that originated in Scotland. In the old days, the Scots cooked bannock on a "bannock stone" (clach bhannag in Gaelic), which was a flattened piece of sandstone. This was put on the ground in front of the fire to heat up, and then used for cooking in the days before ovens were available.
Commonly made of oats, bannocks are also made from barley, ground dried peas, wheat, or a combination of grains. Bannock is basically simple to make; it is just bread dough, fried or cooked on a griddle. The result is a flat bread, similar to a large oatcake, with the middle puffed up a little. They were originally made without any leavening. Later, yeast was used and starter dough from the previous batch was used. By the early nineteenth century, baking soda with an acid added (such as found in buttermilk) was used, and later baking powder became a common leavening agent.
Bannock was brought to North America by Scottish explorers and traders. Indigenous people adopted bannock in their own cuisine over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most likely after encounters with Scottish fur traders. In western Canada, bannock is more closely associated with native and Metis culture than with its Scottish roots. Today in the United States bannock is popular as a staple food for wilderness activities.

Bannocks in Europe

In Scotland, four main variations of bannock were historically tied to the druidic divisions of the year: Imbolc (February 1st), Beltane (May 1st), Lammas (August 1st), and Samhain (October 31st). Special bannocks were made for each of these celebrations. As Christianity took over, the Lammas bannock became the Marymas bannock in honor of the Virgin Mary.
The most famous of all bannocks is the Selkirk Bannock. The first such bannock is said to have been made by a Robbie Douglas who opened his shop in Selkirk, Scotland in 1859. When Queen Victoria visited Sir Walter Scott's granddaughter at Abbotsford she is said to have refused all else with her tea save a slice of the cake?ensuring that the bannock's reputation was enshrined forever. The Selkirk bannock is unlike the traditional oatcake bannock, being more of a fruitcake. It is made with wheat flour, butter, and many sultanas: in fact, the sultanas should make up almost half as much in weight or volume as flour. Some versions add candied peel as well.
Irish bannock was brought over by the Scots who settled there in the seventeenth century. It generally contains sultanas or currants, similar to the Selkirk bannock, although it is made with buttermilk.

Bannocks in America

Bannock was traditionally made by North American Inuit while trapping or living in camps. The dough could be wrapped around a stick and cooked over an open fire.
Canadian Metis people generally prepare bannock with white or whole wheat flour, baking powder, and water, which are combined, possibly with spices, dried fruits, or other flavoring agents added, and then fried.
Fried bread (or frybread), is a Native American adaptation of bannock, found throughout the United States. Topped with additions such as beans, ground beef, or shredded cheese, frybread is served as Indian tacos or Navajo tacos. If sweetened, or served with sweet toppings such as honey or powdered sugar, frybread is very similar to the confection simply known as fried dough, popular at gatherings like pow-wows and state fairs. Frybread was named the official "state bread" of South Dakota in 2005.
In the United States, nineteenth-century cookbooks give recipes for bannock made from cornmeal, or "Indian meal" as they called it. Variations could be made, such as a sweet version with molasses, or the addition of a little stewed pumpkin. Today, American bannock is popular with hikers and canoeists during wilderness adventures. It can be cooked in a pan, on top of a heated rock, or wrapped around a stick. A premix of flour, baking soda, and any assortment of dried fruits and oatmeal can easily be carried in plastic bags. A staple food of wilderness explorers, trappers, and prospectors for centuries, bannock cooked over an open fire brings forth images of bygone days.

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