Hverabraud or Icelandic rye bread

Cooking methods are a whole different story in the world of bread making. Griddlecakes are born on the embers or in the ashes of a fire in the desert. Sophisticated vertical or horizontal ovens came onto the scene only later. And when there was a lack of fuel, griddlecakes were fried in oil or steam-cooked. But rare is the case where countries like Iceland take advantage of volcanic activity to cook bread, and more than ever since the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, which paralyzed international air traffic for months.

This Icelandic bread is probably the only volcanic bread in the world. It is literally cooked in natural ovens near a volcanic crater, and, more generally speaking, in a solfatara, a geological landscape that puts off jets of steam with sulfurous fumes. One day someone had the bright idea of placing the hverabraud – translated literally as “hot source bread” – in it and letting it cook there. And what a good idea it was. The result was a sort of gingerbread with colors like no other bread.

When you don’t happen to have a volcano near you, you can reconcile yourself with an oven. This doesn’t give the same result as a true Icelandic rye bread of course, but it is not entirely different. Nothing keeps you from going to the island and trying out the geothermal sources for yourself either. In the meantime, to make it, dissolve the molasses in hot milk. Pour this hot mixture into the rye flour, wheat flour, baking powder, brown sugar and warm water. The dough is then put in a bread pan so it can freely rise. Bake in warm oven for 4 hours.