In a previous post I mentioned that I had made a bannock pizza. I’ve had a couple of queries on how I made the pizza.
Firstly, bannock is fire-baked pan bread. It was a staple of the Canadian Voyageur’s working the rivers and streams of the northwestern quarter of North America. The dough is really simple and there were lots of varieties. It can be baked right on the coals, on a hot rock, in a pan, or even twisted around a clean stick.
The bannock mix instructions I use are from Mors Kochanski’s book Bushcraft: Outdoor skills and Wilderness Survival. The basic bread requires from 15 minutes to a half-hour to bake.
At home I mix together:
- 1 cup of flour
- 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
You can skip the sugar for pizza dough. Traditionally the dough is mixed with whatever is at hand, carried or foraged. Fruit, either dried or fresh, pemmican, or left over meats. I really like to mix in fresh huckleberries and then crush fresh wild strawberries on top.
This time, at the suggestion of my Dear Bride, I packed along some pizza sauce, olives, and cheese. If there were any mushrooms I would have added them to the topping.
I mix the dough by creating a depression in the flour sack. Then adding water and gently stirring until it forms a sticky ball. I scoop the ball into a Sierra cup to transfer to the pan. If you are more dexterous than I you can transfer the dough ball right into the pan. I’ll stick with the intermediary; too many things going on at the same time. Transfer the dough ball into a sheet steel pan coated with a bit of olive oil. Spread it out to cover the bottom.
Cook until the bottom is a nice golden brown. At this point there are two philosophies for bannock cooking, flip or no flip. If you flip, then the bottom will be ready to spread sauce and toppings. When flipping I have better luck pulling the browned bannock to one side, then adding a bit more oil before completing the flip.
If you don’t flip then you have to prop the pan at an angle so that the heat can cook the top. Sometimes the bannock will slip a bit. Cook until the top of the dough begins to harden. The spread the sauce and add the toppings.
Continue cooking until l the cheese is melted and the dough is cooked. You have to monitor the fire pretty carefully to make sure things don’t burn. The fire has to be hot enough to cook the bannock but not so hot that it burns everything.
The results are wonderful.
Here is a video of Mors cooking bannock. What’s a bit of ash anyway. I hope you enjoy a different way of cooking a traditional dish.