WILL'S MATCH DAY OATCAKES FROM THE POTTERIES

Will Platt

Partner Investment, Winchester

What this dish means to me

Oatcakes, Stoke City and the associated memories are very important to me.

Just like my children, I was a Stoke supporter before I was born, and I went to my first Stoke match with my dad when I was four. I’ve been all over the country (and very briefly Europe) watching Stoke and have so many great memories with my brothers, my grandad, friends in Stoke and most importantly my dad.

When I was younger, we’d regularly have oatcakes on match days, either for brunch before we left the house or dinner when we got home afterwards (thanks mum). Now I’m grown up I don’t have them as often but they’re still a great pre-match meal at Jen’s Café.

Jen’s café is the affectionate name given to Tony and Jen’s (my Dad’s best man and his wife) situated in Mier, a suburb of Stoke-On-Trent. Jen still regularly hosts me and my brothers for oatcakes on Saturday lunchtime before a 3pm kick-off.

SERVES

4

MINUTES

60

DIFFICULTY

4/10

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE OATCAKES:

  • Two pints of water
  • One pint of oats
  • Half a pint of plain white flour
  • Half a pint of wholemeal flour
  • Half a shot glass of baking powder
  • Quarter of a shot glass of baking yeast
  • Pinch of salt2 tbsp olive oil
  • Some oil (to stop the oatcakes sticking to the pan)

SUGGESTED FILLINGS:

  • Cheddar cheese (or Cheshire cheese if you’ve acquired the taste – I have not)
  • Bacon
  • Brown sauce

METHOD

Step 1

Combine all the oatcake ingredients in a bowl or a blender and blend until smooth (ie you can’t see any trace of the oats).

Step 2A

Place the bowl with the oatcake mix in an oven at around 50 degrees centigrade for around half an hour until you can see the yeast working (you should be able to see tiny bubbles in the mixture – see photo below).

Step 2B

While the oats are sorting themselves out, use scissors to cut the bacon into small pieces (about the size of a postage stamp) and grate the cheese.

Step 3

When the oatcake mix is ready, give it a stir. Then turn the hob on max and add some oil to a pan ready to make the oatcakes.

Step 4

Add around three-quarters of a ladle of the oatcake mix to thinly cover the pan.

Step 5

When the top of the oatcake is dry (see photo below), flip the oatcake over to cook the other side until golden brown, and then move to a plate/cooling rack. When you get to the penultimate oatcake, add the bacon to a separate pan (also in the photo below).

Step 6

When the bacon is cooked and the final oatcake has been flipped, add the cheese to the pan that has the bacon in it (see photo below to see browning of the oatcake).

Step 7

When you’re ready to eat, add the fillings to the oatcakes and return to the pan one at a time to reheat to the desired temperature (or put on a plate and use a microwave).

Step 8

When the temperature is to your liking, roll them up, add brown sauce and enjoy!

Step 9

Watch Stoke snatch defeat from the jaws of victory or, every now and then, bring joy to the Potteries (and beyond).