Look what we found in the Greater. Washington Manx files! One of our old newsletters.
The 2010 Annual World Bonnag Championships
Report from Valerie Caine
An appreciative audience sat down in St James’ church hall to hear farmer John Kennaugh compére one of the most important events in the Dalby calendar.
The Annual World Bonnag Championships attracts people from far and wide to this small church situated on a remote stretch of western coastline, where former baker Bert Winckle of Foxdale has the unenviable task of choosing the winners of this unique competition.
Bonnag, a non-yeasted simple bread, shared by the rural community for generations is a cousin of the Irish soda bread. Recognized as an essential part of the Manx kitchen it is made quickly and efficiently by hand using few ingredients, but never without the vital buttermilk, once available on every Manx farm.
Here are some recipes:
Wheat Bonnag
Ingredients:
2 & 1/3 cup white flour
2-4 Tbsp. butter or lard (tallow)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the dry ingredients well together in a bowl and cut in the fat with a pastry blender
until it is the size of oatmeal. Add sufficient buttermilk to make into a moderately soft dough. Form into 2 or 3 flat
round shaped loaves about 8 inches diameter. Bake about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center
comes out dry.
Fruit Bonnag
A round three-legged pot was used in the cottages for roasting, baking and stewing. It hung from a chain (slouree) over a turf fire in the big open hearth (chiollagh). The lid was flat and could hold a fire on top to ensure an even heat when needed.
Before the advent of cast-iron ovens, some cottages had ovens built into the wall beside the fireplace. They were heated by burning fuel inside until the desired temperature was reached. Then the fire would be brushed out with a goose wing.
As it was a lengthy task to prepare the wall ovens, most baking was done on the griddle over the fire or in the potoven.
Baking day would bring forth a batch of plain and fruit bonnags (large scones) and soda cakes, which were traditionally made with buttermilk – but sour milk is a reasonable substitute.
Ingredients;
2 1/2 cups of plain flour (brown or white)
1 cup sugar
1 cup currants
1 tablespoon of butter
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
1 large teaspoon mixed spice
Few drops of vanilla essence
1 cup buttermilk
Method:
Put dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub in the butter. Gradually add the buttermilk and a few drops of vanilla essence/extract and mix to a soft dough. Add a little more buttermilk if necessary. Shape into a round and bake for about an hour in a moderate oven. It should be three to four inches thick and slightly loaf-shaped. s
