Flatkaka

Flatkaka is the everyday Icelandic flatbread, a thin, soft, pale round of unleavened dough cooked on a hot, dry pan (sometimes called a flatkakapanna) and served still warm. Unlike Icelandic rúgbrauð, which is a sweet, dark rye bread baked in a pot for many hours, flatkaka is a quick, neutral bread that goes with almost anything. The dough is rolled out paper-thin, pricked all over with a fork to keep it flat, and cooked briefly on each side until small brown freckles appear and the surface is matte and pliable.

Most flatkaka recipes are made from a mix of rye and wheat flour, with a little milk or buttermilk to soften the dough and a small amount of baking powder to give it just enough lift. Some farmers add mashed potatoes or cooked oats to the dough for body, especially when the bread is meant to accompany smoked or cured fish. Once cooked, the flatbread is rolled in a clean tea towel to keep it soft; if it cools it can be refreshed for a few seconds in a hot pan or over a kettle of boiling water.

Flatkaka is served at every Icelandic meal that involves fish, lamb, or butter, and it is a staple at the breakfast table, where it is eaten thin and rolled around hangikjöt, smoked lamb, or smoked trout, or simply folded around a thick pat of Icelandic butter and a slice of cheese. Find it at Reykjavík bakeries such as Sandholt and Brauð & Co, at the Kolaportið flea market on weekends, at self-cleared farm stays in the Westfjords, and at traditional restaurants serving Þorramatur during the winter month of Þorri.