Cake made from ginger, oats and treacle
Parkin
is a gingerbread cake traditionally made with
oatmeal
and
black treacle
,
[1]
which originated in
Northern England
. Often associated with
Yorkshire
,
[2]
it is widespread and popular elsewhere, notably in
Lancashire
. Parkin is baked to a hard cake but with resting becomes moist and even sometimes sticky. There are regional differences, for example in
Hull
and East Yorkshire, it has a drier, more biscuit-like texture than in other areas whereas in
Lancashire
it is generally made with golden syrup rather than the treacle used elsewhere. Parkin is traditionally eaten on
Guy Fawkes Night
,
[3]
5 November, and when celebrating 'Yorkshire Day' on 1 August. But is also enjoyed throughout the winter months. It is baked commercially throughout Yorkshire, but is mainly a domestic product in other areas.
Etymology
[
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]
The origin of the word
parkin
is unknown. The first published dated reference to parkin was collected from 1728 from the
West Riding of Yorkshire
Quarter Sessions
when Anne Whittaker was accused of stealing oatmeal to make parkin. The Lancashire schoolmaster and poet
Tim Bobbin
describes
tharf cake
in 1740, and this is recognisable as a parkin.
A possible older use of parkin is in the seventeenth century ballad "The song of Arthur O'Bradley" that purports to describe a merry wedding from the time of
Robin Hood
(fourteenth century)
When Arthur, to make their hearts merry
Brought ales and parkin and perry.
[5]
The tharf cake is of ancient Teutonic origin, as
tharf
or
theorf
meant 'unleavened, un-fermented, solid tough or sodden' in Old English.
John Wycliffe
in his translation of the
Bible in 1389
(Mark Ch.14.v. 1) calls
unleavened bread
a "
tharf
loove
"
[a]
History
[
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]
Parkin is virtually unknown in the south of England
[
citation needed
]
. It is eaten in an area where
oats
were the staple grain for the poor, rather than
wheat
. It is closely related to
tharf cake
? an unsweetened cake cooked on a griddle rather than baked.
The traditional time of the year for tharf cakes to be made was directly after the oat harvest in the first week in November. For festive occasions, the cake would be sweetened with
honey
. In the seventeenth century (about 1650) sugar started to be imported from Barbados,
[b]
and
molasses
was a by-product of the refining process. Molasses was first used by apothecaries; to make a medicine
theriaca
, from which name the word
treacle
is derived.
As molasses became plentiful, or
treacle
as it became called at that time, it was substituted for honey in the preparation of tharf cakes.
In Northern Europe honey was used as a medicine, for festive cakes and making mead; before 1750 sweetness was not a characteristic of everyday food. Honey cakes had a special festive significance. They were baked to be hard, but after storage for a couple of weeks they regained their moisture becoming soft and even sticky. Molasses has
hygroscopic properties
. German
Lebkuchen
and
Pfefferkuchen
were other examples of hygroscopic holiday ginger-breads. They too were baked hard in summer and allowed to moisten for consumption at Christmas.
Though parkin and tharf cake appear to be synonymous, all parkins generally were sweet tharf cakes.
Tharf cake
[
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]
Parkin and tharf cake were used interchangeably in Lancashire and South Yorkshire until 1900. Over the 500 years the recipe and taste of these cakes have changed considerably. It was the food of the poor.
[
citation needed
]
Ovens were rare in the houses of the poor, and they generally had no access to public bakers before the 1820s, so the cakes were cooked on griddles or bakestones on an open fire.
The best parkin was made with fresh oatmeal, which fixes the date around the first week in November.
Festivities
[
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]
In southern Lancashire and West Yorkshire, parkin is linked to the
Guy Fawkes Night
celebration. Jennifer Stead, in her study
Prodigal Frugality
, identifies the link between Guy Fawkes and parkin as the bonfire.
The first two weeks in November had many Christian festivals, and like Celtic festivals that preceded them they were celebrated with a fire and ritual cakes. November starts with
All Hallows Eve
, that runs into
All Saints Day
(1 November), which is followed by
All Souls Day
(2 November).
Little Lent
and the forty-day fast until Christmas, started at
Martinmas
. (11 November). On All Souls Day
soul cakes
were baked. The Martinmas fair was important being the traditional day when cattle were bought and sold, and servants were hired for the following year. It was also the date that cattle were slaughtered and salted to preserve them for the winter and for general feasting and dancing.
The Celtic festival of
Samain
,
[c]
the festival of the dead on 1 November, was celebrated with special cakes and bonfires. It was Christianised into
All Hallows
by the church in 837 AD, and the culinary tradition continued. When Guy Fawkes in 1605 gave the English church a reason to celebrate with a bonfire, the tradition was adopted under the new name, just four days later on 5 November.
During the period of industrialisation many traditional holidays were discontinued but Guy Fawkes Night continued to be celebrated. In the nineteenth century (1862), parkin and
treacle toffee
with
potatoes baked
in the fire had become the traditional foods of Guy Fawkes Night, and in Leeds, 5 November became known as Parkin Night.
Ingredients
[
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]
The principal ingredients of a
Yorkshire Parkin
are oatmeal,
flour
, black treacle (similar to
molasses
), fat (traditionally
lard
, but modern recipes use butter, margarine or rapeseed oil), and
ginger
. Oatmeal and golden syrup are generally considered distinctive features of Lancashire parkin, whilst Yorkshire Parkin is baked using
treacle
and soft brown sugar.
The flour used in parkin in England is self-raising, containing a small amount of chemical
leavening agent
. If this is not available, or if the proportion of oatmeal is high, it is essential to add a leavening agent, e.g. baking powder or a mixture of
sodium bicarbonate
and
cream of tartar
.
One of the key features of parkin is that it retains its texture well. It is baked to be hard, but after storing in a sealed tin or box for several days, it becomes soft again, the texture that is intended.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Wikibooks
Cookbook
has a recipe/module on
Notes
[
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]
- ^
Pask and the feeste of therf looves was after the secunde day.
(Mark Ch.14.v. 1)
- ^
Molasses
had been imported from Sicily into England is small quantities since the late 13th century
- ^
It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals,
Samhain
,
Imbolc
,
Beltane
and
Lughnasadh
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