Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags - 05.01.1986, Page 53

UM LAUFABRAUÐ
115
II
According to thc fcw cxisting sources about lcaf brcad in thc 19th century, none of
wliich can bc said to rcach back furthcr than to about 1840, thc brcad was madc from
barlcy or rye, thin with cut out leaves, lauf, or floral dcsigns, rósauerk, and fricd or cooked
in buttcr, „other fat“ or tallow. It was served, in northern and north-eastern Iccland only
it sccnrs, as part of thc Christmas farc and, about thc rniddle of thc ccntury, togethcr with
othcr typcs of brcad, on fcstive occasions such as wcddings.1'"28
III
Thc ingrcdicnts for lcaf brcad listcd in thc 18th century sources: whcat, buttcr, nrilk or
cream, and sugar, most ccrtainly indicate that it was a dish for thc well-to-do, not the
common pcoplc. Although in thc cookbook from 1800 thc brcad is said to bc common,
this must surely bc taken as to mcan common to thc peoplc for whom thc book was
intcndcd.21 In nonc of thc 19th ccntury sources is thc brcad said to bc made froni wheat,
only from thc less expcnsivc barley and rye; cream and sugar arc not mcntioncd, and
tallow would bc the common fat for cooking, not buttcr. In a dctailed articlc on lcaf
bread publishcd in 1930 - at which timc wheat flour was in general usc by common pcoplc
as wcll as tliosc bettcr off- it is statcd that formerly leaf bread had becn made from rye,
and that, if ntilk is not availablc for thc dough, watcr can be uscd. It would seem then,
that from bcing swcctmcat rcscrvcd for thc uppcr classcs in thc 18th ccntury, leaf bread
in thc 19th ccntury bccamc Christmas and, for a whilc, fcstive fare for the common
pcoplc in certain parts of Iccland, with thc use of less cxpcnsive ingredients.30"33
IV
It is not until the appcarance of the above mentioned article in 1930 that dctailcd
infornration is seen in print about the making and cutting34 of lcaf bread, accompanied
with illustrations of various namcd designs. Most of thcrn consist of rows of pointed
„lcaves“ with every second leaf folded back. Comparable cut work is known to the
present author only from the dcsign for a paper bookmark in a hobby book for children,
translated from Gcrman and printed in Norway in 1909.35 lt would bc of intcrest to hcar
of carlicr cxamplcs of cxactly this kind of cut work in an attenrpt to tracc its origin.36