Laufabrauð — Leaf Bread

Laufabrauð

Festival

Paper-thin rounds of rye or wheat dough, cut with geometric leaf patterns, folded and fried crisp, eaten at Christmas with hangikjöt. A northern Icelandic tradition in origin, now general. The cutting is a family gathering in Advent — the pattern is the point, and it exists because flour was scarce enough that it had to be spread thin and made to look like more.