Butterbrot is a German breakfast food made from a single slice of bread with one extra ingredient layered with butter. It traditionally uses sourdough bread and toppings vary depending on the meal. It originated in the 1300s and is different from the English sandwich. The saying that buttered toast always lands butter side down is a variation of Murphy’s Law and is nothing more than an amusing legend.
The word “butterbrot” is rooted in the German language and literally translates to “butter bread” or “bread with butter.” In its most basic form, it’s exactly that, but many cultures have developed modern variations of the German breakfast food. Butterbrot is generally made from a single slice of bread with no more than one extra ingredient layered with butter, and these ingredients can vary by recipe. In this way, it is different from a sandwich, which has its roots in England, but overtime, has largely been replaced by other breakfast foods. Butterbrot is also the origin of the adage that buttered toast always lands butter side down.
Butterbrot traditionally uses sourdough bread, known in German as gray bread or graubrot, but other types of bread can also be used. It can be toasted or plain, and the toppings differ depending on the meal the butterbrot is a part of. Breakfast butterbrots usually involve layering such as jam, marmalade or cream cheese on top of butter. Chocolate spreads, peanut butter, or sprinkles can also be used. For heavier meals, layers of cheese, salami, or eggs of any style can be layered on top of the plain veggies.
Butterbrot’s origins date back to Germany in the 1300s, where it was often eaten as an alternative to porridge and some regions in Germany added herbs or spices to their breads. Fifteenth-century Germans ate mostly buttered bread whether they were peasants or not of the common class, but by the seventeenth century the food had become much more popular. The traditional butterbrot differs from the English sandwich in using firmer breads such as sourdough or brown bread. Furthermore, it’s a food that remains, for the most part, traditional, while the sandwich has been greatly expanded to include all sorts of more complicated combinations of food. Although buttered bread still remains a staple in Germany, its popularity has declined in many other areas of the world due to the introduction of other breakfast foods such as cereals and breakfast pastries.
The urban legend that toasted butter always lands the butter face down is a variation of Murphy’s Law, which states that if anything can go wrong, it will. This saying has also been scientifically tested by several enthusiasts and many have developed different theories as to why they believe the phenomenon tends to occur. A more common explanation is that the buttered side is heavier, but for the most part, the saying is nothing more than an amusing legend.
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