Bara Pyglyd | a Medieval Welsh Recipe for Pikelets
Pikelets, also known as pitchy bread or bara pyglyd, have been around since at least the 14th century. It has also been referred to as the ‘poor man’s crompet’.
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A pikelet uses a crumpet batter, but is not cooked in a ring like a crumpet. This is why a pikelet is referred to as a poor man’s crumpet. This bread item is believed to have Welsh origins, but has continued to be popular throughout the modern UK. The earliest mention that I could find for pikelets was by the theologian John Wycliffe and his reference to it in his interpretation of the Bible in 1382, specifically in Exodus Chapter 29, verse 23. In this verse, he referred to a ‘crompid cake’. When looking at the New King James version of the Bible, this same item is listed as a ‘wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread’.
Early crumpets were typically made with buckwheat flour and cooked on a hot stone. Buckwheat is not related to wheat at all since it is a fruit seed from the rhubarb and sorrel family. It’s gluten free. It has an intensely earthy, slightly bitter flavor. Buckwheat originated in China as early as 2600 BC. It arrived in Europe in the Middle Ages. It adapts well to poor, sandy, clay, or acidic soils. Plus, it is extremely resistant. Typically, it’s sown in June due to its sensitivity to frost. About a month later, it begins to flower, which is great for attracting bees and therefore honey-making.
In 1611, Randle Cotgrave wrote of barrapyclids in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues:
Popelins: soft cakes made of fine flower, kneaded with milk, sweet butter and yolks of eggs and fashioned and buttered, like our Welch Barrapyclids
Ingredients:
1 cup Buckwheat flour
1 cup Einkorn flour
1 egg
2 cups milk
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
Instructions:
Pour flour into a bowl. Add the egg and milk. Stir the ingredients together. Continue to whisk the batter until smooth. The batter should look like heavy cream. Melt some butter on to a flat griddle pan. Warm the pan on medium or medium-low heat. Then pour about ¼ cup of the batter on to the griddle. Bake until a golden brown on the bottom side (bubbles should appear) and then flip the pikelet to lightly brown the other side. Remove the pikelet from heat. Plate and serve.
For more information:
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Works Cited:
- Ayto, John. The Diner's Dictionary.
- Boermans, Mary Anne. “Life of Pikelet.”
- Buckwheat. Alimentarium.
- Cotgrave, Randle. A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues. 1611.
- Crumpet. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food.
- Drozd, Olga. Pitchy Bread.
- Ellis, William. The Country Housewife's Family Companion.
- Exodus 29:23.
- Freeman, Bobby. First Catch Your Peacock.
- History of Crumpets.
- Luard, Elisabeth. European Peasant Cookery.
- Nabbes, Thomas. “The Springs Glorie.”
- Nannestad, Chloe. The Untold Truth of Crumpets.
- Raffald, Elizabeth. The Experienced English Housekeeper. 1769.
- Rabelais, François. The Fourth Book.
- Riske, Heather. From Buckwheat to Rye.
- Westmacott, William. Historia vegetabilium sacra.
- What are Crumpets?
- Wycliffe, John. The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. 1382. Edited by Josiah Forshall and Sir Frederic Madden in 1850.
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Welsh Cakes Recipe Demonstration - Joyofbaking.com
Recipe here: Stephanie Jaworski of Joyofbaking.com demonstrates how to make Welsh Cakes. Welsh Cakes are very similar to a scone, only instead of baking them in the oven they are cooked on a griddle. Welsh Cakes have a lovely golden brown outer crust, yet inside they are wonderfully soft.
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Fadgies. The Easy Bread Recipe No One Knows About
I love fadgies me - and this traditional Teesside bread bun recipe is as easy as it is tasty. Simply mix up the dough, cut it out, leave it for an hour and bake it off. I provide you with all the details you need to make this classic triangle bread as I'm really transparent - unlike successive Conservative governments. But whatever your political persuasions, enjoy these bread buns fresh from the oven and give me a like and I won't judge you.
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