Anyroad up, I was in Sainsbury's buying an apple (not sure why) and I saw SHELVES of things called North Staffordshire Oatcakes. But they weren't the oatcakes that I know of. They looked like crumpets that have been ironed out. Or pikelets ( which are smaller, thinner crumpets), which have also been ironed out but less so, as they were thinner in the first place.
They said they were made of oats and bran. They LOOKED like crumpets. They didn't have any shit in them. They looked nice. I came home with a packet. Cast iron pan, high heat, North Staffordshire Oatcake goes in, turn it over, crispy crunchy on the outside, soft inside. Kind of chewy, salty and a little bit sour. Quite a lot like the pancake thing you get with Eritrean food. Had it with tuna and bean salad (you know, the one that sounds flash when you give it its Italian name). Ate it. Delicious. I am beside myself.
The photograph you see above is of an untoasted North Staffordshire (note: not South, West or East Staffordshire) oatcake. You can grill them, apparently, and then put cheese on top and roll it up. You can put bacon and eggs in them. Or sausages. I am treating mine like I would treat brown rice, or perhaps a pitta bread, and used it to scoop, rather than roll. Very exciting.
They've made me very happy, those oatcakes.
2 comments:
Hello,
The oatcakes your blog refers to are from Stoke-on-Trent. They're our local delicacy! The best way to eat them is to lie the oatcake out flat, cook some bacon and put a rasher on half of the oatcake, sprinkle some grated cheese on top, fold the oatcake over and stick it in the microwave for a minute. Lovely!
Picklets are smaller, thicker and have a got currents in, but not many places sell them. Also, the ones you buy in the supermarkets are crap. There's loads of little oatcake shops in Stoke and they're much nicer from there.
Hope your wiser now!!
Gavin.
Dear Gavin
Thank you for your kind words. The ones I bought were from a shop in Stoke so probably not ideal but perhaps slightly better than they could be?
Are you confusing pikelets (which I think of as thin crumpets) with Scotch Pancakes, which do indeed have raisins in them, but are perhaps slightly more cakey?
Yours in Oats
NWM
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