Another little piece from Sue Robb the Ulster writer and columnist; her stories were put together in a booklet in the late sixties, along with a selection of her recipes, but her tales must go back over fifty years before that, to a simpler and much harder way of life.
Every farmhouse had a baking day depending on the size of the establishment. In most houses it was three times a week. The big black griddle was put on top of the black range or in some places, it hung from a cleek, swinging over an open fire in the hearth.
Buttermilk was kept in the plunge or barrel churn and the older the buttermilk the lighter the bread.
The griddle was brushed after each ‘cake’ by a ‘goose wing’ that was replaced after the Christmas diner each year. A cake consisted of flour farls and the amount of flour or wheatmeal was measured in a pint tin, alas these have long since disappeared.
The correct heat was gauged by dropping a hand lightly in the griddle, some people measured by the gopenful which was an old fashioned word for a handful, this was both hands cupped together and filled to overflowing.
Potato bread and oatcakes were all baked on the same griddle and variations of the soda bread recipe were made into sweet scones with the addition of sugar, sultanas and a knob of butter. All these things were very palatable and enjoyed by everyone. Oatcake was cooked through on one side only, then upended round the back of the range to dry out. Pieces were broken off, spread thickly with country butter and covered in shiny coarse sugar, then eaten as the perfect finish to any meal.
There are some lovely dialect words; as well as gopenful which Mrs Robb explains, there is a cleek – it’s of scottish origin (this area was settled by Protestant Scots) and means a large hook attached to a wall which might hold anything, but in this case the griddle. farls, which you can now buy on the mainland, are delicious flat breads or cakes, particularly soda bread which becomes soda farls, and potato bread which are called potato farls.
Lois Elsden 