Staffordshire Oatcakes

Saturday morning. The kitchen is cold because you haven't been in it long enough yet. The kettle goes on first. Then the batter, which you mixed an hour ago and left under a tea towel, gets a stir. It's frothy and alive, smelling of yeast and oats, ready to become something.

Staffordshire oatcakes are a quiet piece of regional genius. If you didn't grow up in the Potteries, you might never have heard of them, which is a shame, because they're one of the best things you can make for a weekend breakfast with almost no effort. Soft, savoury pancakes made from oatmeal, flour, and yeast, cooked thin on a griddle and filled with whatever you like. Cheese and bacon is the classic. Cheese alone is enough. An egg if you're feeling generous.

They aren't the same as Scottish oatcakes, which are firm, dry, biscuit-like things. These are soft and pliable, closer to a crêpe, with a lacy edge and a gentle tang from the yeast. In Stoke-on-Trent, you can still buy them from oatcake shops, handed through a hatch, stacked in half-dozens. Outside of North Staffordshire, you have to make your own. It's not difficult. The batter takes five minutes. The resting does itself.

I wrote it down in the notebook years ago after a weekend in the Potteries: oatmeal, yeast, cheese, bacon, Saturday. The recipe hasn't changed because it doesn't need to. Some things arrive already right.