Bannock

This griddle-baked unleavened flatbread hails from the Highlands of Scotland, where it is traditionally made with a single type of grain - whether barley, beremeal, oats, wheat, rye, or even peasemeal - with the addition of water or buttermilk.

Bannock made from a mixture of different flours is known as mashlum or meslin bannock. This flatbread was once an essential part of everyday life and various festivities in the Highlands, especially during the celebration of the quarter days, and each variety of bannock was given a different name depending on which of the old Gaelic seasonal festivals it was made for.

Prior to the 19th century, bannock bread was baked on a bannock stane - a flat stone placed on embers to be used as a cooking surface. Today, they are mainly made on the griddle, and there are numerous regional variations that diverge from its simple origins: for instance, the Selkirk bannock is more like a lardy, raisin-studded fruitcake, while the Pitcaithly bannock is a rich shortbread with candied fruit peel.