Describing it, Terence Laybourne, Newcastle's Cafe 21 proprietor (www.cafetwentyone.co.uk) explains on independent.co.uk, ‘It’s a flat disc of bread, traditionally made from left-over dough and baked on the 'sole' - the coolest part - of a coal-fired oven. The relatively low baking temperature allows the yeast to work longer, producing a bread with pleasant chewiness.’ The name comes from ‘stott’ Geordie vernacular for 'to bounce'. To check its texture, cooks would trying ‘stotting’ it on the kitchen floor.

Marwood Yeatman in her excellent book The Last Food of England aids my research further: ‘A good stottie has a dense and chewy texture that makes the best sandwich of the lot. A bad one is produced from the same pre-mix as ordinary bread, fluffy, pointless and identical except in shape.’

I make both of theirs. Laybourne’s is unusual because from 350g flour and 150ml water, he requests 12 stotties, resulting in miniatures.

Yarwood’s instructions are to take 225g white dough (I use baking-deity Dan Lepard’s easy white bread dough, strong white flour with fast action yeast) that has risen once and knead it well, rolling into a single round cake. I allow it to prove, ‘for no more than 15 minutes.’ Then I poke a hole in the middle and bake in a hot oven. Hers is turned over, resulting in bronzed curvatures on both sides.

Interestingly, Laybourne uses plain flour while my other stottie buffs swear by strong white. The latter is made from harder wheat varieties, it's higher in gluten. Although I’m looking for the robust texture evident in Laybourne’s, I want the elasticity of stronger flour so I stick with it.

Next, I contact Blackfriars Restaurant & Banquet Hall in Newcastle (www.blackfriarsrestaurant.co.uk 0191 261 5945), highly acclaimed for its regional food. My goodness, their recipe used for kiddies’ cookery classes, is a firm dough, no sponginess in this. It's a lot of flour (900g) to liquid (300ml) compared to others and I'm feeble kneading it. I try it a second time reducing the flour by half and it's a joyous result. Blackfriars cleverly includes butter, the wedge of fat gives good flavour in this deliberately bland dough.

A fair few of the stottie cognoscenti use milk with water to make their dough. I like its mild sweetening effect.

Almost all of my gurus today underestimate salt I think due it to it being unhealthy. Although how many of us scrutinise labels in manufactured bread to check salt content.

Karen Burns-Booth’s seasoning on her family recipe on www.kenwoodworld.com stands out - I sprinkle 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon sugar and 0.25tsp white pepper in 450g flour.  They’re the best quantities so far.

Proving time and kneading techniques vary more than an itinerant stottie rolling down a Northumberland hill. Some do a short rise, knock in, knead quickly and pop straight in the oven, giving a tighter texture. Others do a one hour rise, knock in, and leave to rise for a few minutes. The latter comes out warm, chewy, irresistible for eggs and bacon.

Finale recipe: *Makes 1 stottie

260g strong plain white flour

0.75tsp salt

45g butter

11g fresh yeast or 3-4g fast acting dried yeast (a little over half a tsp)

0.5tsp sugar

75ml warm water

75ml warm milk

Pinch of white pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 200C. Crumble the butter with the salt and flour in a bowl.

In a jug, mix the yeast with 15ml warm water and the sugar. Wait until it is frothing. Then make a well in the centre of the flour.

Mix the 75ml water and 75ml warm milk and gradually pour it into the well. Knead for a few minutes, then pop into a bowl and leave by a radiator or in a warm place to rise. Leave for at least an hour until it has doubled in size.

Place the dough onto a floured board. Roll to make a large flat disc, about 1inch thick. Stick the end of a rolling pin in it. Prick the top with a fork.