Bere (pronounced ‘bear’) is a form of six-row barley which has been grown in Orkney for thousands of years. Beremeal bannocks are a staple food of the Orcadians, so I am told, and it is also used in the brewing of ale. Bere is quite possibly Britain’s oldest cereal grain still in commercial cultivation and was likely brought here by Viking settlers way back when. It has adapted to growing in soils with low pH and in areas with long daylight hours, such as Orkney and Shetland, when it doesn’t really get dark during the summer months. It grows rapidly and being sown in the spring and harvested in the summer it has been called “the 90 day barley”.
I’ve only been to Orkney twice. Once on my way up to Shetland for the very first time when I quite literally hitched a ride on the St. Rognvald ferry to get here back in 1999. I didn’t know how I was supposed to get to Shetland and I hadn’t booked any tickets in advance. I just showed up on the pier looking for a ship to take me there. The St. Rognvald was a cargo ferry but they let me on anyway and I stayed in my room for the whole 14 hour journey thinking I was going to die if I sat up for any longer than 30 seconds. It was my first experience with the sea.
The ferry stopped off in Kirkwall on the way to Shetland and I had the opportunity to spend a few hours wandering the streets on a Sunday morning. I thought it was a beautiful place with its narrow stone lanes. I mind back in Canada listening to Lorenna McKennitt’s beautiful song Standing Stones, imagining being in Orkney, and I was absolutely delighted to find myself there, albeit alone on a misty Sunday morning.
The second time was en route to Ackergill Tower in Wick (see A Story of Porridge, A Scottish Castle & a Ghost for that adventure). I mean to return to Orkney one of these days, for a proper holiday, after all it’s only a 4 hour ferry ride away!
Bannocks made using beremeal have a very wholesome and unique taste. Apart from a few small growers on Shetland and the Western Isles, Barony Mills in Birsay, Orkney are the main producers of beremeal, which is where I obtained this recipe for beremeal bannocks from. Note to self: locate the place in Shetland which grows bere and go for a look-see this summer!
- 2 cups Orkney beremeal
- 1 cup plain flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cream of tartar
- pinch salt
- 3/4 – 1 cup buttermilk
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 4 large bannocks
I have included this recipe in Javelin Warrior’s Made with Love, Mondays from-scratch recipe round-up.
A Walk Back in Time: John Clunies-Ross
I have just received a gift of beremeal oatcakes and they are delicious. I like the taste and fineness if them and also reduced gluton.
It frustrates me that they can’t be bought in supermarkets. Will smaller outlets not consider stocking them when they perhaps stock other varieties of Stockans oatcakes ?
I wonder if they can be ordered straight from the bakery in Orkney? It might be worth making enquiries! I’m a big fan of their beremeal shortbread biscuits, myself.
My wife and I just returned from a trip to the Orkney Islands. We experienced the bere bannock at our stay at the Lynnfield Hotel in Kirkwall and were hooked. We learned that the source was the Barony Mill at Birsay. The young man running the mill took us through the whole process which uses the same systems and equipment as has been used for the past 100 + years. We purchased two 1.5 kilo bags to bring home to the States so we could enjoy making bere bannocks ourselves and haring it with our family and friends. We are looking forward to doing that in the neaar future.
So is there anywhere in the US where I can buy Bere barley? Can I order from Barony Mill? I really want to try this type of barley.
The Scottish Grocer based in North Carolina stocks Barony Mill Orkney beremeal
https://www.thescottishgrocer.com/pages/oatmeal-and-oatcakes
These sound absolutely delicious & remind me of soda farls
I’m really interested in trying to make these
Hi, I am travelling back home to Southport from Stromness. I tasted Bere Banock for the fist time at Judith Glue’s craft shop and cafe in Kirkwall. Her Bere Banock was delicious so I thought I’d search for the recipe on line. I also bought some Bere meal from her shop. Judith Glue also sells it on line. However it might be worth trying the recipe using ordinary barley if you can’t get Bere meal.
Hello…
The bannocks look great …I want to make them and use the beremeal … Wondering where to get it .. I live in the United States…
Thanks
Arlene
It might be worth contacting the company in Orkney who produce it to see if they have any US suppliers, or if they would pop a bag in the post for you! 🙂
I’ve never heard of bere before but the bread certainly sounds delish. I love griddle cooking especially potato cakes which are yummy when served still warm – mmm!
Im not sure where you get the 4 hour ferry crossing from but the ferry from Gills Bay to St Margarets Hope takes roughly 1 hour and the ferry from Scrabster to Stromness takes 1 and a half hours. The ferry from Aberdeen to Kirkwall however takes about 6 hours. As a Stromness lad now living in Shetland I would recommend a visit to both sets of islands but being a proud Orcadian I would recommend Orkney over Shetland every time
Hi Elizabeth – I read through your background info/recipes above, and saw that you were interested in coming to Shetland to see where bere is grown. I don’t know about any other places in Shetland but my mother’s folk lived in a place which was locally called “Whistle Bere” – supposedly due to the sound of the wind whistling through the bere. This is in Sandness on the West Side of Shetland, and the ‘proper’ name of the croft is Greenfield. I don’t know if bere is or was grown in Sandness particularly, or more widely grown. Hope you make it here some time – similar but not similar to Orkney! Fiona
Hi Fiona, thanks for that – I will have to check it out! I don’t live very far from Sandness myself and I get my veg box from there, so I will enquire! 🙂
I’ve never heard of beremeal before, but so intrigued – these turned out looking delicious. And I love how these were cooked in the griddle pan…very cool. Thanks so much for sharing!
It’s not a common grain, I suppose, since it’s only grown in a few places. I’m going to have to have an explore of some local fields this summer.
these sound very tasty – do you think they would work with regular barley flour, given I am unsure I will lay my hands on beremeal?
I would love to visit the orkneys or the shetlands – they always seemed so far away when I lived in Edinburgh so I can see why a four hour ferry trip doesn’t happy often for you. Now they are half a world away from me but I still like to think that maybe I will get there one day
Thanks for your comment Joanna. 🙂 I’ve never tried ordinary barley flour so I really don’t know. Might be worth experimenting though! You never know, you may find yourselves up this way sometime in the future!