Bannock | Definition, Ingredients, & History (2024)

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Bannock | Definition, Ingredients, & History? ›

Bannock is usually unleavened, oval-shaped and flat. The version that we know today came from Scotland. In its most rudimentary form, it is made of flour, water, and fat or lard. Milk, salt, and sugar are often added, depending on the recipe.

Bannock is generally prepared with white or whole wheat flour, baking powder, sugar, lard and water or milk, which are combined and kneaded (possibly with spices, dried fruits or other flavouring agents added) then fried in rendered fat, vegetable oil, or shortening, baked in an oven or cooked on a stick.

Bannock was brought to North America by Scottish explorers and traders. Indigenous people particularly Métis in western Canada and the northern Great Plains in the United States, adopted bannock in their own cuisine over the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, most likely after encounters with Scottish fur traders.

Bannocks can be distinguished from oat cakes because they are baked (cooked) on a girdle (think griddle) whereas oatcakes are toasted before the fire after having been partly baked on a girdle.

According to Cameron, a bannock was the whole circular quick bread or cake, while a scone was the individual piece cut, like a pie slice, from a bannock. It dawned on me that this old distinction is reflected in the way my Scottish mother-in-law made her cheese scones. From my mother-in-law's recipe collection.

Bannock (British and Irish food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle served mainly in Scotland but consumed throughout the British Isles. Bannock (Indigenous American food), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying also known as a native delicacy.

Classic bannock has a smoky, almost nutty flavour blended with a buttery taste, while dessert bannock can have flavours resembling a donut or shortbread. Making bannock is an art that takes years to perfect.

Historically, Scottish bannocks contained oat flour, barley flour, or pea flour, and nowadays they're usually made of a mix of all purpose flour and oat flour (often rolled oats that have been pulsed in a food processor or blender).

The big “but” - Bannock before European contact

These were typically unleavened breads which were made from the starch or flour of the underground stems of ferns, ground maize, ground roots or bulbs, lichens, mosses, cat-tail pollen, etc. They were cooked in open fires, on rocks, in sandpits, and vessels.

Bannock became a staple for voyageurs, fur traders, prospectors, and later, Indigenous peoples. It is a quick and simple carbohydrate-rich food, which was hard to come by in many parts of Canada. Many would mix the dough right into their flour bag, and toss it onto a pan whenever the need arose.

Who eats bannock? ›

The Inuit call it 'palauga,' it's 'luskinikn' to the Mi'kmaq, while the Ojibway call it 'ba`wezhiganag. ' Whatever they call it, from north to south and coast to coast, just about every indigenous nation across North America has some version of bannock.

A Biscuit (U.S.) Is a Scone (U.K.)

The closest British equivalent to those buttery miracles is a scone, which ain't too bad either. Both baked goodies use flour, fat, liquid and a leavening agent.

Biscuits and scones have the same British ancestor, but the early Southern colonists' version included butter, lard, buttermilk, and soft wheat, plentiful in the South. Over time, this fluffy and layered bread evolved into a regional commodity: the Southern biscuit.

Bannock has been an Indigenous staple ever since flour, salt, sugar and baking powder were introduced to the Yukon by incoming miners looking for gold.

The advantages of bannock are obvious. Besides, tasting delicious, it is a quick and simple carbohydrate-rich food. Bannock soon became a staple for First Nations, voyageurs, fur traders and prospectors. Many would just mix the dough right into their flour bag, and toss it onto a pan whenever the need arose.

The rest of the year the Bannock lived in dome-shaped houses covered with grass. In the summer they fished for salmon, and in the spring they gathered seeds and roots. The root of the camas plant was an important food for the tribe.

Made with simple ingredients, generally wheat flour, water, salt, and sometimes baking powder, frybread can be eaten alone or with various toppings such as honey, jam, powdered sugar, venison, or beef. It is the base for Indian tacos.