Happy Oatcake Day!

Yes, indeed, somebody decided a few years ago to institute a National Oatcake Day - to celebrate North Staffordshire's own local delicacy. (For those that don't know, it's a thick savoury pancake served with melted cheese - and it's wonderful).

Chris Bates

I must admit that I've never lost my taste for oatcakes, which really are the food of the gods, even if they are a 'poor man's dish'.  As a new book published today says: "An Oatcake Is For Life – Not Just For Breakfast".

The dozens of little shops making oatcakes in this part of the world are part of the charm (oatcakes must be eaten freshly made; after a day they are half what they could be).
The Oatcake Kitchen in Dresden is one of my favourites, and it even has a range of...yes...oatcake merchandise, including mugs, greeting cards and T-shirts!
Chris Bates, who runs the shop (and appears on some of the greeting-cards even), is something of a local legend...

Links: The Oatcake Guide

The oatcake lives on

When oatcake shops disappear, then we shall really know that an era has finished. For now though, there are a few left in Staffordshire.

The traditional Staffordshire-oatcake is a savoury pancake style wrap for grilled bacon & cheese. The oatcakes (without fillings) are made at specific shops, which are usually open only Thursday to Sunday morning, working through the night to supply demand.

The humble oatcake has sustained many a local working-class diet for hundreds of years. One can imagine workers - many of them women - pouring out of this adjacent old textile factory in Leek, and picking up the fresh oatcakes on their way home.
And, they must be eaten fresh. They are fairly horrible even a day later.