Bara Pyglyd, also known as Pikelet or Sticky Bread

Pikelets, also known as pitchy bread or bara pyglyd (sounds like pock-let), have been around since at least the 14^th century. It has also been referred to as the ‘poor man’s crompet’. A pikelet uses a crumpet batter, but is not cooked in a ring like a crumpet. This is why a pikelet is referred to as a poor man’s crumpet. This bread item is believed to have Welsh origins, but has continued to be popular throughout the modern UK. The earliest mention that I could find for pikelets was by the theologian John Wycliffe and his reference to it in his interpretation of the Bible in 1382, specifically in Exodus Chapter 29, verse 23. In this verse, he referred to a ‘crompid cake’. When looking at the New King James version of the Bible, this same item is listed as a ‘wafer from the basket of the unleavened bread’. 

 

 

 

 

Early crumpets were typically made with buckwheat flour and cooked on a hot stone. Buckwheat is not related to wheat at all since it is a fruit seed from the rhubarb and sorrel family. It’s gluten free. It has an intensely earthy, slightly bitter flavor. Buckwheat originated in China as early as 2600 BC. It arrived in Europe in the Middle Ages. It adapts well to poor, sandy, clay, or acidic soils. Plus, it is extremely resistant. Typically, it’s sown in June due to its sensitivity to frost. About a month later, it begins to flower, which is great for attracting bees and therefore honey-making.

 

It was not until around the 18^th or 19^th century that crumpets and pikelets became leavened (either by yeast or later by baking soda). A crumpet comes out looking more like an English muffin. This is because only the underneath side is baked, leaving the top side soft and sponge-like. Since a pikelet does not use a ring, it tends to be thinner like a pancake and more free-form in its shape. Also, modern pikelets appear to be flipped over like a pancake, so that both sides are baked.

 

Medieval Welsh recipes were not well documented. The earliest published recipe that I have found for this batter was from 1769 in Elizabeth Raffald’s The Experienced English Housekeeper. The recipe in her book was called To Make Tea Crumpets. This specific recipe calls for eggs, milk, water, barm, and flour. Modern recipes for this batter include eggs, butter, salt, milk, sugar, flour, and leavening agents varying from yeast to baking powder. 

 

 

 

Wycliffe’s reference was for an unleavened wafer. The earliest example that I have found for a leavening agent like barm or yeast for this recipe was Raffald's recipe in 1769. So, I have decided not to use yeast in my interpretation of this recipe. I am using Raffald’s recipe as a basis for my recipe, but simply removing the barm and decreasing the portions. 

In Bobby Freeman's recipe for Pikelets in his book First Catch Your Peacock, his recipe calls for 4 oz. flour, 2 eggs, 3 oz. butter, and 1/2 pint of milk. Personally, this sounds like more liquid than thickness for a batter. 

 

My interpretation of this historical recipe is for:

• 1 egg 
• 3/4 cup milk 
• 1 cup buckwheat flour
  

 

Next comes experimenting with my above recipe! 😃 Wish me luck!

 

 

 

Works Cited:

 

- Ayto, John. The Diner's Dictionary. 2012. https://archive.org/details/dinersdictionary0000ayto/page/106/mode/2up. 

 

- "Buckwheat." Alimentarium. https://www.alimentarium.org/en/knowledge/buckwheat.

- "Crumpet." Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/crumpet. 

- Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food. 2014. https://books.google.com/books?id=bIIeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA234&lpg=PA234&dq=bara+pyglyd+medieval+recipe&source=bl&ots=3rtDjoDOni&sig=ACfU3U0Zj1OnQZB08qvUA7KeAHDfTbEwBA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi0rKOgktv3AhVKCjQIHXP4D-0Q6AF6BAggEAM#v=onepage&q=bara%20pyglyd%20medieval%20recipe&f=false.

 

- Drozd, Olga. "Pitchy Bread." 19 September 2010. http://www.ukrainianclassickitchen.ca/index.php?topic=865.0. 

- "Exodus 29:23." https://biblehub.com/exodus/29-23.htm.

 

- Freeman, Bobby. First Catch Your Peacock. 1996.

 

- "History of Crumpets." https://crumpetman.com/crumpet-history. 

- Nannestad, Chloe. "The Untold Truth of Crumpets." 1 February 2022. https://www.mashed.com/753583/the-untold-truth-of-crumpets/.

 

- Raffald, Elizabeth. The Experienced English Housekeeper. 1769.  https://books.google.com/books?id=1I4EAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=crumpet&f=false. 

- Riske, Heather. "From Buckwheat to Rye." 30 April 2021. https://www.feastmagazine.com/features/article_1b4e4eec-a393-11eb-a096-773c80393ccc.html.

 

-  "What are Crumpets?" https://bakesomebread.com/crumpets/. 

- Wycliffe, John. The Holy Bible containing the Old and New Testaments. 1382. Edited by Josiah Forshall and Sir Frederic Madden in 1850. https://books.google.com/books?id=ssJIAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA263&lpg=PA263&dq=%22john+wycliffe%22+%22crompid+cake%22&source=bl&ots=gj6hoZCREO&sig=ACfU3U16CDJ4zaDWXuv9ud6suOYTMCZIKg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjRj_ucndv3AhWzk4kEHTDGCVkQ6AF6BAgXEAM#v=onepage&q=%22john%20wycliffe%22%20%22crompid%20cake%22&f=false.