Flapjack Facts – Oats
Blackafriars flapjacks are mainly made from oats. Interestingly oats are annual grasses, and are used as both for both human and animal nutrition, in addition to other purposes. Modern oats probably originated from the Asian wild red oat which grew as a weed in other grain crops. Archaeological studies show that oats have been found dating from about 2,000 BC, but these grains were probably simply weed seeds. It was probably much closer to the birth of Christ before, as the last of the cereals to be cultivated, oats were purposely grown in southeast Europe or Asia Minor. Before being used as a food, they were used for medicinal purposes.