Wednesday 14 December 2016

Christmas Countdown, Traditions and Trivia Day Fourteen

Hello Friends!

Just eleven more sleeps, as they say, until Christmas Morning! Here is today's Advent picture and scripture ~~~


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Today I'm sharing with you the unique Icelandic tradition of Laufabrauð, or Leaf Bread {call me a romantic, but I'd really like to think that this may be where JRR Tolkien got his inspiration for the Elven waybread of Lembas Bread} and also sometimes called Snowflake Bread ~~~

Laufabrauð is a traditional Icelandic bread eaten at Christmas consisting of very thin "cakes" about 7 inches in diameter with intricate leaf~like patterns cut into the dough before they are deep fried in fat {or oil}.  Originally eaten only in the north of Iceland, it is now the custom across most of the country to make and eat Laufabrauð at Christmas.  It is usually a pre~Christmas family activity with several generations sitting around the kitchen table cutting their own patterns into the dough. Sometimes, a special cutting iron called a laufabrauðsjárn is used.

You can watch a clip of still images with dialogue from Icelandic Review here.

I was privileged to see this happening, some thirty years ago when I lived in Iceland, at the Árbær Open Air Museum in Árbæjarsafn near Reykjavik. I bought the paper ornament, below, as a memento of seeing real Laufabrauð being made ~~~



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Tonight's Yuletide Lad, the third, is Stubby, or Stúfur, and is also the shortest Lad. He is also known as Pan Scraper and he will try to steal small bits of food left in the fat at the bottom of a dirty pan.  He joins his two brothers who are already here and will leave for his mountain home on December 27th.

Until next time ~~~
~~~ Deborah xoxo


9 comments:

  1. Was this the one they had to make on Bake Off?

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    1. Not that I've seen {and I've watched the lot!} Maybe you are thinking of Dampfnudel? All sounding a bit foreign to me! lol

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  2. What a beautiful Icelandic tradition. The bread is beautifully carved! How wonderful that you were able to see this process in person, Deb! I love how people all over the world celebrate Christmas with wonderful foods unique to them. I really enjoyed seeing the leaf bread made-thank you.
    I must admit to feeling sorry for the third lad, having to get food out of an oily pan! Enjoy your evening. xoxo ♥

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    1. Thank you Martha Ellen. Yes, it was fascinating. Sadly, I couldn't taste it though because I am vegetarian and the traditional fat to cook with in Iceland is lard. They do look too good to eat, but came into being as a poor man's food decorated to make something special for the Christmas feast.
      ~~~Deb xoxo

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  3. You lived in Iceland! Looking forward to hearing more about that!
    ;-)

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    1. How long have you got? I was there for four years so there's a lot to tell!
      Hope to see you soon ~~~ Deb xo

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  4. This is a lovely tradition. The card is beautiful. I will be checking out the link you provided. Thanks!

    Darlene

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  5. What a lovely tradition and I am so enjoying reading about your Yule lads :)

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    1. it was fun learning all about them when I lived in Iceland.

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