Flatkaka

Ingredients

Dough

• 250 grye flour
• 100 gplain flour
• 1 tspsalt
• 1 tspbaking powder, optional
• about 250 ml boiling water

To serve

• salted butter
• hangikjöt, smoked lamb, thinly sliced
• or smoked salmon, or pâté

Equipment

• a heavy dry pan or a griddle

Directions

1. Mix the dry ingredients, then pour in boiling water and stir with a wooden spoon. Boiling water gelatinises some of the starch in the rye, which is what makes a low-gluten dough pliable enough to roll thin.
2. Add the water gradually until it comes together into a soft, slightly sticky dough. Let it cool just enough to handle, then knead it briefly on a floured surface.
3. Knead it only until smooth, since rye does not benefit from long kneading the way wheat does. Let it rest, covered, for ten minutes. Roll each ball out into a thin circle, about eighteen centimetres across and two or three millimetres thick.
4. Roll them genuinely thin, since a thick flatkaka is heavy and dry and will not fold around a filling. Use plenty of flour on the surface, since rye dough is stickier than wheat. Prick each one all over with a fork. Now the pan, which must be dry and hot. Heat a heavy pan or griddle over a medium-high heat with no fat at all.
5. Use no oil or butter in the pan, since flatkaka is a dry-cooked bread and fat fries it into something quite different. Test the heat with a scrap of dough, which should sizzle faintly and colour within thirty seconds.
6. Turn it and cook the other side for a minute or so. Press it gently with a spatula as it cooks so the whole surface makes contact. Stacking them under a cloth traps the steam, which keeps them soft and pliable.
7. Let them cool inside the covered stack. Serve them cold or barely warm, spread thickly with salted butter. Lay very thin slices of hangikjöt over the butter, and fold the bread over. The smoked lamb is strongly flavoured, so it goes on thin rather than piled, and the butter is not optional.

Technique

• Iceland had no fuel for ovens, which is why the bread is pan-cooked and thin.
• Boiling water is what makes the low-gluten rye dough pliable.
• The charred spots are the mark of the bread rather than a fault.

Substitutions

• All rye flour, for a more traditional and more fragile dough.
• Smoked salmon or pâté in place of hangikjöt.

Variations

• Made entirely with rye, as traditionally.
• With smoked salmon, which is common.
• Served with butter alone.

Frequently asked questions

What is Flatkaka?

Flatkaka is a bread & pastry from Iceland: griddled rye flatbread folded around smoked lamb.

How long does Flatkaka take to make?

Flatkaka takes 20 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes 8 flatbreads. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Flatkaka?

Yes, within limits. All rye flour, for a more traditional and more fragile dough. Smoked salmon or pâté in place of hangikjöt.

What is the most important thing to get right in Flatkaka?

Roll them genuinely thin, since a thick flatkaka is heavy and dry and will not fold around a filling. Use plenty of flour on the surface, since rye dough is stickier than wheat. Prick each one all over with a fork. Now the pan, which must be dry and hot. Heat a heavy pan or griddle over a medium-high heat with no fat at all.