riddle breadn.
/ˈrɪdlbrɛd/, U.S. /ˈrɪd(ə)lˌbrɛd/ English regional (northern).
= riddle cake n.
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the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > loaf > [noun] > flat cake of bread
cakec1225
tharf-cake1362
cake-breadc1400
bannock1483
bere bannockc1550
torte1555
fadge1609
breadcake1635
riddle cake1673
jonikin1676
tortilla1699
cookie1701
johnnycake1739
journey cake1754
galette1775
pone1796
riddle bread1797
ash-cake1809
chapatti1810
papad1813
poppadom1820
puri1831
roti1838
Rhode Island johnnycake1866
wrap1969
chapo1993
1797 F. M. Eden State of Poor I. 513 (note) In Lancashire and in the West Riding of Yorkshire, a sort of oat-bread is still called riddle-bread.
1828 W. Carr Dial. Craven (ed. 2) Riddle-bread, oat cake which is riddled or shaken on a chequered board, before it is thrown on an iron plate over the fire, called a bakestone.
1850 H. L. Lear Tales Kirkbeck 2nd Ser. 109 The little party..dispatched an excellent meal of stewed bacon and potatoes, butter-milk porridge, and riddle bread.
1968 Times 30 Nov. 22/8 It's a book as honest and wholesome as riddle bread.
2006 Northern Echo (Nexis) 13 Sept. 4 Our version was adapted from Yorkshire riddle bread, which was widely cooked in West and North Yorkshire in the days when oats were used far more than flour.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1797