A Scottish Halloween Recipe from 1785 ‖ Oatmeal Sowans
➤ RECIPE
Cover oats with water, stir, and let sit, covered but not sealed, for twelve hours. Pour off the clear water that has settled on top, and then add as much water back to the pot. Cover the oats again, and let sit for another twelve hours. Change the water twice more, so that the oats soak for a total of 48 hours. (Hannah Glasse suggests that you may soak them for up to three days if you prefer a more sour or fermented taste.)
Once your oats have soaked, pour off most of the clear water, leaving some to help sieve the oats. Give the contents of the pan a good stir and then sieve them into a saucepan to remove the solids, pressing them to make sure you get as much liquid as possible out of them.
At this point, you can sweeten or spice the mixture if you want, or add orange juice or orange flower water, but the original recipe consists only of oats and water.
Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until very thick, stirring the whole time. Remove from the hob immediately and pour into wet moulds or pudding basins. Cover and allow to set.
In the eighteenth century, these would have been eaten with sugar and wine, cider, beer, or milk; on Halloween, they would have been eaten with butter, and honey is also a period appropriate option. If you're not particularly fussed with historical accuracy, I recommend serving your sowans with fruit or stewed berries!
➤ Many thanks to Alastair Murdoch for voicing Robert Burns!
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