One bite of the warm, crumbly oatcake takes Allan Smith right back to his mud-covered, carefree childhood on the family farm where all that mattered was how many of his mum’s freshly made oatcakes he could snaffle and scoff.
It’s this delicious taste of home, and the happy memories it evokes, that inspired Allan to follow in his late mum Muriel’s footsteps by making his own oatcakes from home.
Juggling his full-time job as a retail manager at the Co-op in Blackburn plus his side hustle with the Doric Express – a podcast where he reads out stories from the Press and Journal – means Allan is often up until midnight baking his special savoury biscuits in his double oven.
But all the late nights have been worth it as his oatcake venture, Snochery Jocks, came third in the World Oatcake Championships in Tarland while one of Aberdeen’s best-loved hotels, Maryculter House, has put Allan’s oatcakes on it’s cheeseboard menu.
It’s not only his oatcakes that have left people across the north-east and beyond licking their lips as Allan’s wife Sandra also makes shortbread and sweet treats which they sell online and at farmers’ markets.
Here Allan tells Society magazine the secret recipe to his success.
What inspired you to start making your own oatcakes?
I grew up on a farm and my friend Ian Mitchell lived about six miles away. We were constantly at each other’s houses and as both our mums were farmer’s wives there was always home baking on the go. Both of our mums were always baking bread and oatcakes so we’d always be eating. When Ian’s mum Mary passed away, Ian asked me if I’d like his mum’s oatcake griddle. So I took it and thought I’d give oatcake making a go. I’d always tried to make oatcakes the way my mum used to make them but I could never get them to taste the way my mums did. So I made a batch using the griddle and gave them to my older sisters to try and they told me they thought they were “pretty good”.
When did your hobby turn into a tasty business?
In September last year, I noticed that the World Oatcake Championships were being held in Tarland so I decided to enter. I took along a few different oatcakes for the judges to try. I ended up coming third out of about 40 entrants which gave me a real boost. It’s funny as I started telling everybody that my oatcakes are the third best in the world. That really gave me the incentive to keep going so afterwards I went to Business Gateway and started attending useful webinars with them about how to set up your own business. They were super supportive so I officially launched Snochery Jocks in April this year.
Where did the name Snochery Jocks come from?
I was brought up on a farm so I would always be outside helping my dad Archie. I always had a runny nose and was forever covered in mud so my dad used to call me snochery jock. It was a nickname that stuck and it was a nod to the Doric I suppose so that’s why I’ve called my company Snochery Jocks.
Why are your oatcakes so special?
The oatcakes are more like I remember them as a child. It’s not the way my mum made them but they taste pretty similar. They are more crumbly, not hard. They’re baked by hand so it’s a bit of a faff as you have to turn them over halfway through, it takes a bit of time but it’s worth it in the end when you get the feedback from customers.
What flavours of oatcakes do you offer?
I make plain and cheese and onion which are normally the best sellers when we attend the farmers’ markets. We also do a cheese and chilli oatcake which has a bit of a kick to it and also just a plain cheese oatcake. Personally, I like a little bit of butter or a little bit of cheese on my oatcakes. Some people like chutney or for our chilli oatcakes I would recommend cream cheese.
You also make shortbread and other sweet treats?
Yes, my wife Sandra, who has been a great support with the accounts and administration side of the business, makes shortbread. So we have vanilla (plain) shortbread as well as cinnamon, lemon and coconut shortbread. We were recently at the Huntly Hairst farmers market where we had samples of Turkish delight and parma violet flavoured shortbread. Sandra also makes tablet, coconut ice and little energy bites.
Do you stock your goods in local shops/hotels?
Yes, when I first started the business, I took samples to all the local businesses including the Post Office in Kintore and the butchers. The manager at Maryculter House Hotel actually got in touch to say they had seen something about my business online so I provide hundreds of oatcakes for their functions and my oatcakes are also on their cheeseboard menu. It’s taken off so much more than I thought it would.
What about farmers markets?
The first farmers market we attended was at Craigievar Castle and we did fantastically well there. Through that we were then invited to another farmers market in Tullynessle which was great. So every month we now go to Bridge of Don farmers market and Huntly market.
Do you have any plans for the future?
If it keeps on going like it has then we’ll have to expand as the house is rammed full of boxes of oatcakes and the oven is on all day from 3pm in the afternoon to 10/11pm. It’s been mad crazy but a good mad crazy. We’ll maybe have to look at possibly converting a bit of the garage into a bakery. The idea of doing it as a wee business was to give me something to do when I retire but at this rate, I might not get to retire for a bit longer!
Where can people buy them?
People can message us through Facebook and Instagram. We are in the process of setting up a website where people can purchase online and we send them out. We’ve sent them down to London and Devon.
For more information about Snochery Jocks, check out their Facebook page.
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