Fried Bannock
Submitted by: Heather Coman / Ottawa, Ontario but originally from Iqaluit, Nunavut
Who passed this recipe down to you? My mother. I grew up eating bannock, as did my mother and her mother before her.
Recipe origin: When the Fur Traders came to trade with the Inuit. First ones were Revellon Freres, French Company from France. Then they were bought out by HBC (Hudson's Bay Company).
How old is this recipe? From around the 1920s
The story behind the recipe:
This recipe originated with the traders who came to the arctic to trade all sorts of items for various furs and hides. They brought rifles, ammunition, tobacco, sugar, flour, tea, spices, powdered milk, cotton, kitchen utensils, pots and pans, just to name a few items. We grew up eating this bannock anytime; it’s great with any meal especially stews or even just with tea and jam for the bannock. It was a staple food item to bring out hunting as it was easy to carry and very filling with a large caloric value (which was needed for the hunters to sustain them after burning thousands of calories).
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
¾ tablespoon baking powder
½ tablespoon salt
¼ cup lard
1 cup water
Enough frying oil to have the bannock pieces float while frying (I prefer canola oil but any oil will work)
How to make it:
Preheat your frying oil to 350-375°F.
Mix dry ingredients well. Cut lard into small pieces into the dry ingredients. Mix well until mixture looks like coarse crumbs.
Add water and mix with hands until dough has formed but do not over mix or they will become hard once cooked.
Make desired shapes—flat donuts is my favorite and cooks evenly this way. Fry only a few pieces at a time until golden brown on the bottom then flip to brown the other side.
Remove from oil onto paper towel and sprinkle with salt (or sugar) and enjoy!
