August 14, 2014. Caledonia, N.S. Oatcakes.

Oatcakes were introduced to us in Scotland. Ken and I were being served tea in the Library of the Inn. We had checked in, and as soon as we were settled, were invited for tea. The library was magnificent. Of course, the tea was served on fancy cups and saucers and was properly elegant. We both admired the whole scene while we sipped tea sitting by the fire. Then they served us oatcakes, which they told us were a specialty in Scotland. We decided that they were at the opposite end of shortcake, which is also Scottish. We were not impressed as the oatcakes had no flavor and no sugar and were difficult to swallow. We were forced to ask for a drink of water. On Sunday, we visited the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia, other words for New Scotland. In one of the markets, I spotted Oatcakes and bought them, just to check my memory. Oatcakes are big, round cookies, about 4 inches in diameter and one half inch thick. And they are heavy. The ingredients are few, beginning with rolled oats and ending with love. The second last item is brown sugar. In other words, there is little sugar in these oatcakes. Much to our surprise, we enjoyed them, in fact have eaten all eight. Ken commented that eating oatcakes is similar to eating his morning cereal. One thing for sure is that the Nova Scotia oatcakes are better than the Scottish variety. We drank wine rather than water with these oatcakes.