RECIPES
BONNAICH, BONNAGAN - BANNOCKS
Bannocks were the staple form of bread in Ireland, Scotland and Isle of Man. The first recorded mention was in the eighth century but it is likely they were being made and eaten long before that. The basic recipe uses rough oats, though modern rolled oats are now preferred. The Carmina Gadelica records that a different bannock was made for each of the Great or Fire festivals (Samhuinn, Imbolc, Bealltuinn and Lughnasadh) as well as for St. Michael's Day or the autumn Equinox. and the Assumption in mid-August.
Each recipe was slightly different depending on the resources available. As a result the bannocks reflect the changing year. It is likely part or all of the bannock was given as an offering to the Gods during the pagan period. Generally bannocks are made from flour, milk, buttermillk or beef broth with a little salt. in the earliest tradition they were cooked on a flat stone placed in the hearth. Today we use griddles or frying pans. Making and cooking the bannock was usually the responsibility of the women of the household, especially at Imbolc.
the word for a small or 'palm' bannock is 'bonnag', pronounced 'baw-nok', which is close to the word 'banag' meaning 'a gift'. It was also used as the word for the Christian Eucharist.
BONNACH DONN - DONN'S BANNOCK or
BONNACH SAMHNAG - SAMHUINN BANNOCK
a' bhonach Donn or Donn's Bannock or the Brown or Dark Bannock was made for Samhuinn. Originally, the Samhuinn bannock was the plainest of all the festival bannocks made, with just oatmeal, milk and salt.
In later tradition some soot from the fire would be added, giving the bread a dark complexion. Even later currants started to be added.
One would be made to be left outside the door on Oidhche Shamhna, Hallowe'en, for the Blessed Dead on their return. Another was sometimes made to be used in marriage divination. The girl of the house would place a ring in the dough. Whoever got the piece with the ring in would be the next to be married. Noone making the bread was allowed to speak whilst doing so.
Another tradition was to take a piece of the bannock and place it under the pillow so you would dream of your future husband.
Unlike other bannocks, the Samhuinn version was baked on a fire of straw, preferably from the crib of a new-born babe.
THE RECIPE
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INGREDIENTS:
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Oatmeal (Ground Oats) 200 g
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Soot or ash (optional) handful
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Baking Powder 2 tsp
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Water or beef broth 150 ml
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Pinch of salt
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METHOD:
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In a bowl mix together the oatmeal, baking powder and salt.
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Slowly add the water or beef broth a little at a time until you have a sticky dough.
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Flour a board or your work surface.
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Shape the dough into a circle and roll out the dough until its about 2cm/ 1 inch in thickness.
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Heat a little oil or butter in a frying pan on a low heat big enough for the dough.
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Cook gently for between ten and fifteen minutes each side.
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Cool on a bread board.
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If you cant get oatmeal, grind the quantity of rolled oats needed in a blender, processor or herb cutter.
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BONNACH BRIDEIN - BRIGHID'S BANNOCK
This bannock was made for the festival of Imbolc. Similar to the Bonnach Donn, it uses buttermilk instead of water or beef broth. If you cant get buttermilk you can make your own by adding lemon juice to milk and leaving it to stand in a warm room for between thirty minutes and an hour. Imbolg may mean 'in the belly' or 'in the womb', referring to the fact that this festival marks lambing season. However the 'im' part may be the Gaelic for butter or colostrum, the first milk produced by lactating mammals, which contains higher level of vitamins and antibodies which protects the new-born.
Tradition says it was flavoured with rosemary. Rosemary is a Mediterranean aromatic evergreen herb. Its probable the herb was introduced by the Romans but as the Celts of the British Isles were trading with both the Greeks and the Phoenicians, it may have been introduced or traded far earlier.
The bannock was incised with a cross. Although this may seem a Christian symbol, the cross has long been used in paganism throughout the world. The four arms represent each of the Cardinal Points East, south, West and North. As Brighid is a deity of the hearth, dawn, the east and one of her epithets is "Sun by day, fire by night". A cross is an appropriate symbol.
Again the making of the bonnach fell to the women of the household. one tradition was that the youngest daughter would go out to collect rushes to make a Cros Bhrighid, Brighid's cross. After returning home she would say a prayer on the doorstep and the mother or bean-taighe, house-keeper, would slap the lintel with the bannock and say "God keep hunger away from this house for the coming year. The door would then be bolted and the family would eat the Bonnach Bridein with drinks of milk. Another custom was that a bannock would be left near the hearth or outside on the window sil.
THE RECIPE (makes 1 round)
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INGREDIENTS:
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Oatmeal (Ground Oats) 180 g
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Plain Flour 133 g
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baking soda 1 tsp
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Salt 1 pinch (to taste)
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Fresh Rosemary (chopped) 1 tablespoons
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or Dried Rosemary 1 tsp
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Buttermilk 190 ml
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METHOD:
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If making buttermilk, make it first.
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Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
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Slowly add the buttermilk until you get a sticky dough. You may not need to use all of it.
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Flour your board or work surface
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Shape the dough into a round and roll it out till its about 1cm or 1/2 inch thick.
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Draw a cross on one side.
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Heat some oil or butter in a frying pan or griddle on medium heat.
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Cook the round for ten to fifteen minutes on each side until golden brown.​
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BONNACH BEALLTAG - BEALLTUINN BANNOCK
The bannocks of Bealltuinn were different again. Bealltuinn was the timer of the transhumance, when the flocks would be moved to summer pasture away from the safety of the farmstead. Some of the bannocks would be 'palm bannocks' or bonnag. so called because they could fit in the palm of the hand. Others were the traditional round but had eight balls on top. Unlike at Samhuinn and Imbolc, the bannocks were cooked in the open. A fire of the Sacred Woods cut into the sod would be used to cook them. The smoke of the Sacred woods would imbue the banocks with protective and blessing properties.
After the feast, the herdsman would tear off one of the balls in turn and throw them into the Bealltuinn fire saying
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"Heres to thee wolf, spare my sheep;
Here to thee fox, spare my lambs;
Here to thee eagle, spare my goats;
Here to thee raven, spare my kids;
Here to thee marten, spare my fowls;
Here to thee harrier spare my chickens"
Carmina Gadelica, Carmichael, A., Floris books,
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The first and last balls being thrown silently. ​
THE RECIPE (1 large round)
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INGREDIENTS:
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Oatmeal (Ground Oats) 180 g
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Plain Flour 133 g
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baking soda 1 tsp
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Salt 1 pinch (to taste)
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Buttermilk 190 ml
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METHOD:
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If making buttermilk, make it first.
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Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl.
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Slowly add the buttermilk until you get a sticky dough. You may not need to use all of it.
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Flour your board or work surface
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Keep some of the dough back to make eight balls.
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Make the balls and flatten one side.
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heat some oil or butter in a pan or griddle on medium heat and cook the balls for ten minutes turning every so often.
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Shape the rest of the dough into a round and roll it out till its about 1cm or 1/2 inch thick.
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Heat some oil or butter in a frying pan or griddle on medium heat.
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Cook the round for ten to on each side until golden brown.
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Dip the balls in a little beaten egg and stick onto one side of the bannock.​
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FOR PALM BANNOCKS (8 small rounds)
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INGREDIENTS:
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Oatmeal (Ground Oats) 500 g
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Baking Powder 2 tblsp
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Salt a pinch (to taste)
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Lard or Butter 113 g
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Milk or Buttermilk 360 ml
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METHOD:
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In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients.
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Cut the fat into small cubes and add to the mixture.
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Add the milk or buttermilk just enough to briung it together into a sticky dough.
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Knead lightly until smooth
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Melt some oil or butter in a frying pan or griddle on low heat.
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Divide the dough into eight equal portions and roll out the each portion until it is 2cm/ 1 inch thick.
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Cook a few at each time. Cook until the underside is golden brown and then flip to cook the other side.​
BONNACH LUNASTAIN - LUGHNASADH BANNOCK
The bannock for Lughnasadh celebrated the grain harvest. Barley was usually harvested in the last part of July and wheat in the August. As such the Bonnach Lunastain had equal parts of oats, barley and wheat.
One custom in Scotland was that bits of the bannock was torn off and placed in the corners of barns, hay-lofts and granaries and anywhere grain was stored to protect the grain and bring good luck.
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THE RECIPE
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INGREDIENTS:
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Oatmeal (Ground Oats) 90 g
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Barley Flour 90 g
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Plain Flour 133 g
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baking soda 1 tsp
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Salt 1 pinch (to taste)
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Buttermilk 190 ml
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METHOD:
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In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients.
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Slowly add the buttermilk until you get a sticky dough.
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Roll out the dough into a circle approximately 1 cm / 1/2 inch thick.
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Heat some oil or butter in a frying pan or griddle over low to medium heat.
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Cook the round on one side until golden brown and then flip over.
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Cook the other side untio it is golden brown as well.​​
AN STRUAN MICHEIL - AUTUMN EQUINOX CAKE
Of all the bannocks made during the year, the Struan was by far the most complex. St. Michael's Day is September 29th, close to the autumn Equinox on 21st or 22nd. In the Carmina Gadelica, Alexander Carmichael describes St. Michael as "The Neptune of the Gaels", which would suggest he was seen as a euhemerised form of Manannan.
The end of September marked the end of the grain harvests and the root crop harvest. Berries could not be eaten after this day as "the devil spat on them". The wetter and cooler conditions caused them to develop fungi which could be deadly if eaten. Caraway seeds were often included as they were of the same family of plants as the carrot, which featured prominently in the celebrations.
The men of the family would bring a suitable 'lesc struan' struan flagstone from the moors before cooking began. The struan was cooked on a sheepskin on top of the lesc.
This time it was the eldest daughter who was charged with cooking, supervised by her mother and egged on by her younger sisters. During the cooking she would repeat a 'rann' or short verse, asking for the progeny of family and prosperity.
As well as a 'family' struan, smaller versions would be made for each family member, including those away at the time, and their names were spoken as the little struans were prepared. The large struan was always round, but the individual ones varied having anywhere from three to nine sides. Various ingredients such as caraway seeds, bilberries, heatherberries and wild honey was added.
As it was cooked a caudle or coating weas applied using either a goose feather or cockerill's feather. The caudle was applied between three and nine times.
The preparation and cooking of the struans were surrounded by a number of 'taboos'. The girl making it could not engage in conversation except to say the 'rann'. if a struan broke before being cooked it was ill omen for the girl making it. If it broke after being cooked it was a bad omen for the household. if the flag and struan broke it was considered extremely unlucky for the entire family and their farmstead. Any meal left over could not be used. instead it was collected and dusted over the animals the following day. The struan had to be cut on a board "as white as snow" with a sharpened knife. Before being cut, the father of the household would make the sign over the cross over the family struan with the knife.
The struan would be eaten on the morning of St. Michael's Day with cooked lamb. The Autumn Equinox marked the period of sheep being 'tupped' or mated in order for lambs to be born at Imbolc, five months later. B efore eating the family would take a piece of struan in the left hand and some lamb in the right hand and they sing the 'Iolach Micheil' or triumphant song of Michael.
After eating the rest of the struan and lamb would be placed in baskets and then given out to the poor of the neighbourhoods. ​
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THE RECIPE (1 Large Struan)
From Truehighlands.com
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INGREDIENTS:
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Flour (oat, barley, rye, spelt, wheat) 454 g
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Bicarbonate of Soda 1 tsp
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Caraway seeds 1 tblsp
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flavourings (as desired) currants, sultanas, raisins, candied peel
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milk (sheep's if you can get it) add enough to make the dough
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for the coating:
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treacle 3 tblsp
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milk 1 tblsp
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sugar 1 tblsp
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flour enough to bind
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METHOD:
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Heat the oven to 150 C (130 if fan oven)
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Grease or line a baking sheet.
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Sift the flour and baking powder and make a well.
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Gradually add the milk until you have a workable dough.
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"saying progeny and prosperity of family
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Mystery of Manannan, Protection of Ancient Dripping Hazel"
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Add in the carraway seeds and any other flavourings.
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If making a 'family' struan shape into a round.
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Bake in the oven for between ten and thirty minutes until the struan starts turning golden.
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Remove from the oven and apply the coating. Repeat two further times a few minutes apart.
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Return to the oven until the coating is cooked. ​
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SEASONAL RECIPES
The following are a selection of traditional recipes from the Celtic lands and peoples. Most of the recipes come from the Early Mediaeval period onwards. Food can be one of our greatest joys and the world is full of joys pleasing to the eye of god.
TOFFEE APPLES (SAMHUINN)
Apples are a traditional Hallowe’en favourite – add a toffee coating to entice your little and not so little monsters.
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Ingredients:
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For the toffee coating:
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225g demerara sugar
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25g Butter
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2 tbsp golden syrup
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110ml water
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0.5 tsp vinegar
For the apples:
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6 dessert apples
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6 wooden skewers, for holding the apples – lollypop sticks will do
Method:
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Dissolve the sugar in the water a moderate heat. When it has dissolved, stir in the vinegar, syrup and butter. Bring to a boil and cook without stirring until it reaches hard-crack stage (138C) or hardens into a ball when dropped in a jug of cold water. This should take around 10 minutes boiling time.
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While the syrup is cooking, pierce each apple with a wooden stick. Once the toffee is ready, dip each apple into the hot toffee, turning it around in the syrup so that each one is fully coated.
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Leave to harden on a lightly oiled tray before serving. If you’re planning to keep them for a day or two, wrap the apples in cellophane.
SOUL CAKES (SAMHUINN & WINTER SOLSTICE)
The recipe makes 18 little cakes
INGREDIENTS: ​
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115g butter (4ozs)
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115g caster sugar (4ozs)
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2 egg yolks
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300g plain flour (10 1/2 ozs)
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1 1/4 teaspoons mixed spice
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75g currants (3ozs0
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A little milk, to mix
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METHOD:
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Pre-heat oven to 180C/375F/Gas mark 5.
Cream the butter and sugar together and then beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. -
Sift the flour into another bowl with the mixed spice and then add them to the butter, sugar and egg yolk mixture.
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Stir in the currants and add enough milk to make a soft dough, similar to scones.
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Roll the dough out and cut out little cakes with a biscuit cutter. Mark each cake with a cross or place currents in the shape of a cross on the top of each cake and then place them on a greased and/or lined baking sheet.
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Bake the cakes for 10 to 15 minutes, or until golden brown.
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Cool on a wire rack and the store in an airtight tin for up to 5 days.
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By Karen burns-Booth from www.lavendarandlovage.com
FEASTEN CAKES (IMBOLC)
INGREDIENTS
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​Plain Four 450g
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1 tsp cinnamon
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100g salted butter
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2 tsp candied peel
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2 tsp dried yeast
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50g sugar
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1/2 tsp saffron
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150 ml milk
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175 ml clotted cream
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2 eggs
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100g currants
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METHOD​
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Heat the oven to 190 C or 375 F.
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Warm the milk and place the saffron into it.
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Cream the yeast with a little sugar.
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Sieve the flour and cinnamon into a bowl and mix.
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Strain the saffron milk and beat in the cream.
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Add the yeast to this mixture and leave for the yeast to activate (small bubbles will appear and the mixture will become frothy).
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Beat the eggs.
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Pour the yeast mixture into the flour and add the beaten eggs.
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Add the currants and remaining sugar.
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Knead well, cover and leave the dough to rise.
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When doubled in size, shape the dough into small balls and then flatten.
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Leave the cakes to rise for a second time.
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When they are springy to the touch put on a lightly greased baking tray and sprinkle sugar over them.
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Bake for about 25 minutes.
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Leave to cool and serve with whipped or clotted cream.
Chronicle of Celtic Folk customs, Day, B., Hamlyn, 2000, London​