Laufabrauð
Leaf bread!-this one Idid make :)
This is an Icelandic tradition that goes way back. Iceland is such a small island in the big Atlantic ocean. The weather can be harsh and few things grow here. Everything needs to be shipped from Europe. In the winter season with its severe weathers, no ships sailed at all in the olden days. Commodities such as flour, sugar, salt and tobacco were considered a luxury. The poor could only afford these things on very special occasions, like Christmas.
It was thought a neccesity to serve bread with the Christmas food. The poorer households couldn't afford to buy much flour and to make sure that each member of the family got his share of bread, the cakes had to be rolled out really thin. It is actually mentioned that "if you can read the Bible through a cake it is thin enough." Patterns are cut into the cakes to make them more beautiful. Afterwards they get fried in very hot tallow and become hard and brown. Today, the decorating and frying of leaf bread is a family event and part of the Christmas preparations. As you can see: my mom is very fond of these little cakes made of flower, baking powder, margerine and water. Today we made ours and I am frightened that if mom is around them for much longer, there won´t be any left on Christmas Eve!
This is an Icelandic tradition that goes way back. Iceland is such a small island in the big Atlantic ocean. The weather can be harsh and few things grow here. Everything needs to be shipped from Europe. In the winter season with its severe weathers, no ships sailed at all in the olden days. Commodities such as flour, sugar, salt and tobacco were considered a luxury. The poor could only afford these things on very special occasions, like Christmas.
It was thought a neccesity to serve bread with the Christmas food. The poorer households couldn't afford to buy much flour and to make sure that each member of the family got his share of bread, the cakes had to be rolled out really thin. It is actually mentioned that "if you can read the Bible through a cake it is thin enough." Patterns are cut into the cakes to make them more beautiful. Afterwards they get fried in very hot tallow and become hard and brown. Today, the decorating and frying of leaf bread is a family event and part of the Christmas preparations. As you can see: my mom is very fond of these little cakes made of flower, baking powder, margerine and water. Today we made ours and I am frightened that if mom is around them for much longer, there won´t be any left on Christmas Eve!
13 Comments:
Sounds delicious and looks delightful - and she bakes! Is anything added when you eat it? Butter, jam, powdered sugar...?
The picture of your mom is a hoot! :)
Oh, I was pretty sure my last guess was right, too.
Do they test good? Ask Karma about Dosa, by the way.
And your mom is a riot.
Sar, yes I love them with a bit of butter and I eat them along with all the delicious Christmas food.
Doug, They taste like nothing special...it is the history of it all that makes them so delicious and I can´t have Christmas dinner and these are not there.
Yes, my mom is a hoot and a wonderful person. She is my mother by choice, not birth...and I love her dearly. I told her that I was making pictures for my blog...she didn´t mind. There were several of me baking these things with a Santa hat on my head...but I figured you wouldn´t wanna see those :)
Bon apetit!
Pictures of Monika? Let me see!
Ja, deine Mama ist wirklich eine tolle Person, du aber auch!
Gruß aus der alten Heimat von Kerstin
You are so very wrong to think we don't want to see a picture of you baking in a Santa Hat. I'm giving you 24 hours.
miz bohemia...Grazias!
Kerstin, schön mal wiedervon Dir zu hoeren. Ich hoffe es geht Dir gut.
Doug, challenge extended...challenge accepted. I hope you calculated the time difference!
I want to see the pretty German gal in Icland with her Santa hat too!
I should have come over here first! When Doug mentioned LeafBread as cozy, I didn't know what he meant.
I'm looking forward to the pix of you. Your mom sounds special.
Blush
Mom
Kerstin: ich habe nicht mal eine Weihnachtskarte geschickt. Schaem...
Ich lass bald von mir hören! Nett dich zu sehen!!!!
Liebe Sabine, ich dir auch nicht.... Hab dir gelegentlich ne mal geschickt, aber du scheinst kaum noch virtuell unterwegs zu sein, dein blog ist ja auch ganz verwaist! Schade!
Lieben Gruß von Kerstin
Kerstin, Sabine ist aber immer hier und sie liest meinen blog taeglich...weil wenn nicht, dannn rufe ich sie an und frage wo sieist :) Hier lönnt ihr euch immer finden!
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