I was never taught to bake bannock by my mother or grandmother. It was a Cree man who taught me how to bake bannock. He took a coffee cup and that's what we used to measure out the four and water. Next he used the palm of his hand to measure out the salt and sugar and a fork for the baking soda. He made a well in the middle of the flour, poured in the water and then ever so slowly using his wrist he combined the flour with the water. Once it all came together in a large lump, he dumped it on a cooking tray and shaped it into a circle then he pressed down on the bannock to evenly flatten it out. We cooked the perfectly round shape of dough for 40 minutes. He suggested that if I ever had any rendered fat to add a couple of fork fulls to the flour mixture and work it in as if I was making pastry before adding the water. I have been using his recipe and method for baking bannock for 15 years with great success.
But let me say this...bannock is NOT a"traditional" Native American food item although, Native Americans across North American have acculturated this Scottish/Irish invention as their own and its either baked or fried. I have attended many feasts were its not a feast unless there is bannock. Its rather humours because bannock is presented and served to tourists as Native American "traditional" food.
For the purposes of this blog bannock is a symbol and its about our historical relationships with Europeans as well as the influences of European food and ingredients have had over Native cultures across North America. Bannock is about how these the new ingredients and cooking methods from Europe have been acculturated and how these ingredients such as refined flour and sugar have impacted our communities today.
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