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The Story of the Humble Scottish Oatcake
The ScotlandShop HQ looks out over arable farmland and beautiful fields of barley, wheat, oil seed rape and most importantly, oats. Today an on trend provider of nutrition and slow release energy, oats were famously defined by Samuel Johnson in his 1755 dictionary as: "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people."
Oatcakes have been a staple of the Scottish diet since at least Roman times and probably long before. In the 14th century, Scottish soldiers carried with them a sack of oatmeal and a griddle, moistened oats were formed into a cake and cooked over a fire. We decided to find out more about the humble oatcake and who better to chat to than Nairn's in Edinburgh?
"Our name comes from husband and wife duo John and Sarah Nairn who first started baking their Nairn’s oatcakes in Strathaven (Lanarkshire) in 1896. The bakery later moved to Edinburgh and our range has expanded considerably since those days, but so many of the principles of what we still do now stay true to John and Sarah’s legacy."
We were delighted to discover that the company source the majority of their wholegrain oats from the Scottish Borders, where farmers like our owner Anna's husband have been growing oats for generations. The oats are then milled by John Hogarth’s of Kelso, who must be good at what they do as they have been millers of the finest Scottish oatmeal for over 100 years. The texture of your oatcake depends on the milling process and how the oats are ground, producing a fine or rough texture. Personally I love a really rough oatcake that doesn't even need a slab of cheese on top it has so much flavour. Nairn's are special as they keep their oats as wholegrains during the refining and processing which ensures they keep their germ and bran outer coating where all the goodness is found. Once the oats have been milled, they are taken to the bakeries at Peffermill in Edinburgh, where all those yummy biscuits and oatcakes have been produced since 1935. If you have purchased one of our Burns Boxes you will find some delicious Nairn's oatcakes in there to try for yourself. Watch out for our Oatcake Taste Test later in the month where we try some more modern flavours such as Peri Peri, Cheese & Smokey Chipotle and Rye & Quinoa no less.
This month we celebrate Burns Night and if you don't fancy a whole plateful of Haggis, Neeps and Tatties you could make these delicious gourmet treats created by Scottish chef, Mark Greenaway with oatcakes as their base. Mark has cooked with ingredients from around the world throughout his career and since returning to Scotland his passion for using Scottish products has earned him three AA Rosettes for outstanding cuisine.
So there you have it, our introduction to one of Scotland's healthiest products, oats and the history laden biscuits that we famously produce with them. Perfect for those with a wheat intolerance and so tasty with all sorts of toppings. Our favourites? Cream cheese and smoked salmon, a slab of Orkney cheddar or brie and cranberry. We look forward to hearing how you eat yours!
