Oatcake facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Oatcake

Oatcakes
Type	Cracker or biscuit
Place of origin	United Kingdom
Main ingredients	Oats, salt, water (Scottish variety)

An oatcake is a yummy type of flatbread. It's a bit like a cracker or a biscuit. Some oatcakes are even like a pancake! They are mostly made from oatmeal, which comes from oats. Sometimes, they also have plain or wholemeal flour. People cook oatcakes on a hot griddle or bake them in an oven.

History of Oatcakes

A painting of a woman making oat cakes, painted by George Walker (1781–1856). This image is from a book about Yorkshire.

Oatcakes have been around for a very long time. People in Scotland were eating them even before the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43. Some say oatcakes were the main type of bread in Scotland for hundreds of years.

A writer named Jean Le Bel described nuns making "little pancakes" around the year 1357. Many believe he was talking about early Scottish oatcakes.

Oatcake Variations by Region

Oatcakes are made differently in various countries and regions. This means you can find many kinds of oatcakes!

Great Britain's Oatcakes

Oatcakes are often seen as a Scottish food. But people have made them in other parts of Britain for a long time too. In Scotland, oatcakes might even replace toast at breakfast.

Queen Elizabeth II often ate Scottish oatcakes for breakfast. A company called Walkers Oatcakes even has a special "Royal Warrant." This means they supply food to the Royal Family. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron once said Scottish oatcakes were his favorite cake.

English Oatcakes

In the 1790s, old books mentioned thin oatcakes being made in Furness, England. In Lancashire, people made a type of oatcake called riddle bread. This one used a leavening agent to make it rise.

The Staffordshire oatcake is quite different from Scottish ones. It's more like a pancake and has a lot of wheat flour mixed with the oatmeal. In Yorkshire, oatcakes are only cooked on one side. They often look bubbly.

A famous army group, the Duke of Wellington's regiment, was nicknamed the Havercakes. This was because their recruiting sergeants carried oatcakes on their swords!

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  Staffordshire oatcakes

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  Oat cakes at the Beamish Museum, near Durham, England

Scottish Oatcakes

In Scotland, oatcakes are cooked on a griddle (called a girdle). Sometimes, large rounds of oatmeal are baked on a tray. If they are big, they are cut into smaller pieces called farls before baking. Oats grow well in northern Scotland. Because of this, oats were the main grain used there until the 1900s.

Scottish soldiers in the 1300s carried a metal plate and a bag of oatmeal. They would heat the plate over a fire. Then, they would mix a little oatmeal with water to make a cake. This helped them "comfort their stomach." It's said this helped Scottish soldiers march longer distances than others.

A writer named Samuel Johnson once joked about oats in his dictionary. He wrote that oats were "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people."

But another person, Patrick Murray, 5th Lord Elibank, quickly replied, "Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?"

The texture of oatcakes can change. It depends on how finely the oats are ground. Oatcakes can be a bit chewy or hard. This depends on how much water is used and how long they are cooked. Long ago, oatcakes were eaten with every meal. They were a major source of energy. From the 1800s, people often ate them with soups, meat, and fish. Today, they are sometimes eaten instead of bread or toast for breakfast.

Many brands of oatcakes are sold in stores now. Some popular ones are Nairn's, Stockan's, Paterson's, and Walkers. Besides these big companies, many local bakers make their own special oatcakes.

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  A girdle from Dalgarven Mill in North Ayrshire. It was used for baking oatcakes and other foods.

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  Oatcakes being cooked outdoors.

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  Oatcakes (at the top) served with clapshot.

Welsh Oatcakes

In Wales, oatcakes are often like savory pancakes. Sometimes, they were crumbled up and used in a breakfast dish called brewis.

Irish Oatcakes

Oatcakes that are similar to the Scottish kind are also made in Ireland. This is part of a shared tradition with the Scots. Ditty's is a Northern Irish brand of oatcake.

An oat cake being shown by an employee at the Ulster American Folk Park. This is near Omagh, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. The employee is showing how they are made.

Canadian Oatcakes

Scottish people who moved to the New World (Canada) brought their oatcake recipes with them. One ship, the HMS Elizabeth, brought immigrants to Prince Edward Island in 1775. A storm hit the ship near the island. The settlers and crew got to the island safely in lifeboats. They waited three days for the storm to stop.

When they went back to their ship, they found that only a few barrels of oats were left. The oats were full of sand and salt water. But that didn't stop them! They got out their frying pans and cooked oatcakes. This was their first meal in days. One settler wrote that it was "the Sweetest morsel I ever Ate in my life." Even though the outside was burnt and the middle wasn't fully cooked!

Over time, oatcakes in Canada changed. They went from being a main part of meals to being served at afternoon tea. People created sweet and savory versions. Sweet ones were eaten with jam, and savory ones with cheese.

See also

In Spanish: Torta de avena para niños