First of all, I want to express how thrilled I am to be participating in this project! This is an amazing way for us Canadian food bloggers to showcase the magnificent and unique foods, traditions and people that are found in our glorious country. I would like to thank Valerie over at A Canadian Foodie blog for bringing this project to fruition. Our collective voices will surely leave a mark!
When you grow up with certain foods as a staple, you often don’t think of its origin. Canadian food has been influenced by generations of immigrants. The prairie provinces are largely influenced by Ukrainian and Polish cultures. If you ask me, perogies and cabbage rolls are as Canadian as they are Ukrainian or Polish. In fact, I haven’t been to a wedding, banquet or buffet in Saskatchewan this didn’t offer perogies!
Being part Ukrainian and Polish, naturally my first food experience involved perogies, cabbage rolls and Kielbasa, but I have a very vivid memory of another food that really sticks out as my first authentic Canadian food memory.
When I was in grade one, we had an Intern with our class for part of the year. The one thing that I remember most about her was that she made Bannock for our class. We all filed into the teacher’s lounge (which alone made most of us squeal with excitement) and we were able to watch her make the dough and fry it. Once it was ready, we sat around the gigantic board room table and ate the warm bread with jam. So simple and so delicious! Fried bread with some sweet jam was just an exciting mid day snack coupled with a class trip to the teachers lounge and learning a little about First Nations people and their culture. This experience has always stuck with me. At that very moment, my first Canadian food memory was ingrained in me.
Bannock (also known as fry bread) is a type of flat quick-bread that is a specialty of the First Nations of Canada and has come to be known as a comfort food to many. If I were to describe bannock, I would say it’s basically a really dense pancake; however it doesn’t taste like a pancake at all. It’s density makes it really filling! Beware!! Your eyes are most likely bigger than your stomach!
Bannock is great with a little butter, slathered in some Saskatoon Berry Jam, (another prairie wonder) or just eat it plain. If you feel so inclined, you can wrap the bannock dough around a hotdog and bake it up for a different version of a corn dog. You can bake bannock in the oven, fry it in a skillet with a little oil, deep fry it or put it on the end of a stick and cook it over an open fire. Bannock is incredibly versatile and can be either sweet or savory and is often eaten with stews. I personally prefer bannock fried and slathered in jam. It’s incredibly satisfying.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of flour
- 2 tbsp of baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 1/4 cup of melted butter
- 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of water
Instructions
- Stir dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Add melted butter and 1 cup of the water and use a fork to mix all ingredients. Add more water as needed.
- Form a ball with the dough (do not over work, kneading about 10 times)
It's up to you how you would like to cook the bannock:
- You can roll the dough out until it's about 1 inch thick and bake on a parchment lined sheet for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.
- You can also cook it in a heavy bottomed skillet with a little bit of oil. Form a small amount of dough into a thin round pancake shape, and place in the hot skillet. Fry until golden brown, flip and repeat on other side.
- You can also deep fry it until golden brown.
Nutritional calculation was provided by WP Recipe Maker and is an estimation only. For special diets or medical issues please use your preferred calculator
Hey, bannock buddy! So funny that we blogged about the same food item for The Canadian Food Experience Project. Yours looks great with the jam.
– Amy @ Family Feedbag
Amy! I love that we both blogged about Bannock 🙂 I wonder what similarities we will share throughout this project!
After seeing two different bloggers write about this I definitely have to make it now! Fantastic!
Heather@tastygardener
Heather, Bannock is wonderful! I hope you really enjoy it!
I have never made bannock, but have eaten it fried and unfried… delicious. My understanding is that it is a West Coast Aboriginal food that was a part of the Potlatch celebrations… but it is very difficult to learn about our aboriginal food culture with so many First Nation Tribes and so little written food history. It is an important quest of mine, for sure! As a teacher, I can assure you that the volunteer that day would be thrilled to read your story so many years later. I was an early childhood specialist for this very reason. Learning experiences are so profound and important when children are young. However, I spent more of my career with middle school students as I just felt I was needed more there – and loved that transitional time of life. This is the third bannock post I have read, and I am delighted to have a couple of recipes to use. Thank you for taking the time to get the recipe from your area culture gal. So happy you have joined the project and can see that I am going to definitely enjoy my time spent here every month (or more).
Big hug,
Valerie
Thanks Valerie. This project is a great way for each of us to explore our own backyards a bit more!
Hello:
Great recipe, but I have a quick question. 2 tablespoons of baking powder sounds like a lot for 3 cups of flour. Is this the right measure? Just checking.
Hi Chris,
Yes, the 2 tbsp of baking powder is correct.
Love your story and your recipe. I first had bannock at the Calgary Stampede where I live since leaving U of S until recently moving back to SK. Must try your recipe.
Hi Sarah,
Welcome back to Saskatchewan!
My heart belongs to cabbage rolls and perogies but that picture of the bannock and jam is actually making me want to eat bannock NOW! Guess I know what we’re having for breakfast this weekend…
Great post, Nicole!
Thanks Shari!
I have eaten cabbage rolls and perogies and absolutely love them! I haven’t tasted bannock yet and will certainly add it to my list of Canadian food to make.
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