National Scone Day
“a promotion of the scone, that noblest of foods, traditionally enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee as a snack or as part of afternoon tea”.
The quote is from an article which was mostly about the Country Women's Association. The lady being interviewed spoke of National Scone Day and quoted the above, but did not say where it came from.
What started me off on this though was the Bulla Cream ad on the left which featured in both the Woolworths and Coles Magazines. I noted the 'national scone day' button and vowed to look into it. And no I am not promoting Bulla cream. I tend to buy Home Brand I confess, unless there is a particular kind of cream that does not exist in Home Brand. Those scones don't look particularly tempting either. No - focus on National Scone Day.
Well yesterday was the designated day and it came and went. I had originally intended to write the post on the actual day but forgot. I have written about Scones and Devonshire Teas before so I have no intention of repeating myself on that subject. But I was intrigued by National Scone Day.
I became even more intrigued when I started my internet search. Nowhere can I find where it originated or indeed who organises it now, if indeed anyone does. There is no website, no Facebook page. Lots of people exploit it for their own advertising purposes and for their own journalistic or blog interests, but nobody mentions where it comes from. I also found a website that says it trawls the net with an algorithm to find the origins of the various weird and wonderful National days that exist, and claimed that it first appeared in 2017. Not true. I found at least one reference to it, dating back to 2013. So human brains beat algorithms.
But no reference in any of those articles to origins. And no reference to what National actually means. For it seems that most of the colonial countries such as South Africa, Canada - and here in Australia, all have a national scone day - all on May 30. Not in the US though I think. The UK on the other hand has a National Cream Tea Day on June 30 or thereabouts but don't appear to have a National Scone Day. The glory of creating National Cream Tea Day seems to be claimed by the Cream Tea Society, which I think is an advertising partnership between Rodda's and Tiptree who make cream and jam. Nobody is claiming National Scone Day though.
However, lots of people seem to know about it - there are several sites that proffer recipes for the perfect scone for National Scone Day. Much like the one at the top of the page. But none of them tell us where the idea came from. Which just goes to prove as I constantly tell my husband - you can't find everything on the internet.
Back in 2010, Felicity Cloake in her How to make the perfect scone article says this:
"without our support, the brave wee thing is in danger of extinction." Felicity Cloake
So maybe that's where the idea came from. Maybe somebody took her words to heart, saw it as a marketing opportunity (what for?), and went with it. The day still exists but if it was indeed a marketing idea then the marketing has disappeared.
Now I do like the traditional scones with the cream and the jam, but really I think I prefer the savoury versions so as my contribution, albeit a day late, to National Scone Day I have rounded up a few recipes from here and there to tempt you into making some to eat with soup, or for lunch or a picnic. Well we are just about into winter here, so maybe not the picnic. And as they really should be eaten warm, the picnic idea should probably be discarded. The recipes I give below are really to be seen as starting points - ideas on how you can ring the changes - either by adding things to a basic scone mixture or by using something other than flour as your base - potato, pumpkin, ricotta ... Let your imagination run riot. But do eat them warm.
"The honest scone has no sugary icing or exotically-perfumed ganache to hide behind – it stands or falls on its absolute freshness, which is why it's impossible to purchase a good example on the high street." Felicity Cloake
So let's begin with Delia - queen of UK cooks. On the left, Roquefort and potato scones with sage and on the right, Feta, olive and sun-blush tomato scones. I'm guessing that sun-blush means sun-dried, but it might be a particular brand of cherry tomato?
My personal 'best' is a recipe which I think was in delicious Magazine, for Zucchini and Cheddar Scones, although I don't generally eat them with the ham and chutney, preferring instead to just split them, spread with butter and eat as an accompaniment to soup. Below them are three similar recipes: Cheesy Rocket scones from Annabel Langbein, Savoury scones - which include capsicum and bacon from delicious Magazine, and Zucchini and dill scones from Donna Hay. All very adaptable to your own personal taste.
And in another variation, a demonstrated by Nigel Slater's cheese scone recipe, instead of making several small scones, you can make one big one.
But I guess no talk of savoury scones in Australia could leave out Flo Bjelke-Petersen's pumpkin scones. I can't remember now why they became so famous. She was the wife of Jo Bjelke-Petersen, corrupt and redneck premier of Queensland for far too long, and I think his wife's scones, or maybe his wife for promoting them, were rather mocked by the press. But they are so very Australian, and she was so Country Women's Association that I cannot leave them out.
So I will end with the trendsetting Yotam Ottolenghi who offers a Middle-Eastern touch with saffron and and an English one with mustard. Saffron and mustard scones.
When I said that the zucchini and cheddar scones were the best, I could not really say that in all honesty of course, for I think I have only ever tried the delicious Magazine savoury scones and perhaps Delia's feta and olive ones. There are literally thousands of ideas out there.
Flour, butter and milk basically - so many things you can do with just three things. But they do need to advertise National Scone Day more. And if anyone knows where the idea came from I would be very interested to know.
