A new project looking at sowens – a heritage food made from oats and a dietary staple in bygone years – has launched, with a special event at Kirbuster Farm, Orkney, at the weekend.
Entitled Sowens Solutions, the UHI Archaeology Institute, University of Copenhagen and James Hutton Institute project is funded by Novo Nordisk Foundation and aims to collect memories on sowens, preserving the knowledge of its use and reconstructing the production process so that this heritage food can be carried forward to the future.
Do you remember eating “sooan scones”? Remembered fondly by many, these were pancake-like, cooked in a pan or on a griddle, and eaten with butter or syrup.
Or maybe you haven’t tried them yourself but have heard older relatives and community members mention them. The scones are made with sowens, with a texture and taste like yoghurt. It could also be supped with a spoon or cooked like porridge. Pronounced “sooans”, it is also found spelled “sowens”, or “sùghan” in Gaelic. In Shetland it is better known as “virpa”.
Why is this important, and why does it need to be done now?
In modern oat processing, for example when making oat milk, 30 – 50 per cent of each grain is discarded and valuable nutrients are lost. In the past, people wasted nothing and making sowens was a way of utilising the husks.
Steeping them, with a little oatmeal, dissolves the nutrients in the water and the thick, yoghurt-like sowens sinks to the bottom. There, it ferments naturally, with the help of yeast and bacteria from the surroundings.
The fermentation process helps prolong sowens‘ life and is also very good for digestion. Traditionally, sowens was known to soothe an upset stomach.
The traditional knowledge of how to make sowens, and how it was cooked and eaten, needs to be collected now before it is forgotten. That way, sowens can continue to be made and eaten in the future, and we can save an important part of our food heritage, at the same time as reducing waste.
Researchers Christopher Gee and Raggie Ljosland from the UHI Archaeology Institute are keen to hear from anyone with memories of sowens. Nothing is too small, everything is important.
They plan to gather as much material as possible, which will allow researchers from the University of Copenhagen’s Food Sciences Institute to re-create the process and analyse the beneficial bacteria, yeasts, and nutrients in the sowens.
Maybe, in the future, sowens will become part of our diet again? The researchers can be contacted on christopher.gee@uhi.ac.uk.
Whether you have heard of sowens before or not, all are welcome to the sowens day at Kirbuster Farm Museum on Saturday, July 11, from 11am-4pm. There will be displays and hands-on activities, suitable for all the family, and the legendary “sooan scones” will make an appearance.
