Lavender and rosemary bannock
This is a recipe from a cookbook tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine (Ambrosia / House of Anansi, 2019) that I was lucky enough to co-write with my friend Shane M. Chartrand. It’s Shane’s bannock recipe, which he likes cooked over open fire or on a grill. Sometimes, I add my own touch with the dried lavender and fresh rosemary for a savoury flatbread. I eat this hot off the grill, or with soups and stews, and any sort of spread like a garlic and white bean purée.
3 cups / 750 mL all-purpose flour, plus extra for working the dough
2 tbsp + 1½ tsp (37 mL) baking powder
2 tbsp + 1½ tsp (37 mL) granulated sugar
¼ tsp / 1 mL salt
1½ cups / 375 mL water, room temperature
Canola oil, for grilling
Fleur de sel, to taste
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl until well combined. Gradually add the water, blending it in with your hands. Be careful not to overwork the dough — it should just hold together. It will be a wet, shaggy dough but really resist overmixing it — at this point, you might think “this can’t be right,” but it is. Cover the bowl with a wet tea towel and set aside at room temperature for 30 minutes to rest.
Preheat the grill to high (400°F / 200°C).
Scatter some flour on a large, clean work surface. Divide the dough into 8 even pieces and shape into balls. Using a rolling pin, roll out each ball into a flat oblong about ¼ inch / 0.5 cm thick.
Brush the hot grill with oil. Brush one side of the oblong with a bit of oil and place the oiled side directly onto the grill. Cook for about 4 minutes or just until puffed up and the bottom of the bread has taken on brown grill marks. Brush the top side of the bannock with oil and flip over. Grill the other side for 3 minutes, just until browned. Remove from the grill. Generously season both sides of the hot bannock with fleur de sel. Serve warm.
