Crispbread is a traditional Swedish unleavened bread made from wholemeal rye flour, water, and salt, with a long shelf life due to its hardness. It was first made in 500 AD and was used as a staple food, especially during expeditions. The traditional recipe uses snow or ice flakes to form air pockets, and variations include the addition of yeast or spices. Crispbread can be used in liquid-filled baked dishes or enjoyed as a snack with pickles or fruit jams.
Crispbread is a type of unleavened bread made from wholemeal rye flour, water, and salt. The bread is specially treated during kneading to help it produce air bubbles as it bakes. For more than 1,000 years, crusty bread has been used as a staple food, originating in Sweden. If kept dry, it can last for years, providing a whole food with a high amount of fiber.
The first crusty bread was made in 500 AD in Sweden. It was first baked with a hole in the center of the bread so it could be stored on long pegs inside the house. The Vikings would have brought bread with them on expeditions because it would have remained edible for a long time. Bread spread to many neighboring countries and was very common in the 1800s. In countries like Finland, where bread was baked only twice a year, fresh bread was made and stored for months before being eaten.
The traditional recipe for crusty bread is simple. Wholemeal rye flour is mixed with water and salt to form a firm dough. That dough doesn’t use any leavening agents and comes out of the oven too hard to bite into. Early Swedish bakers, however, incorporated snow or ice flakes into the dough so they would evaporate during baking and form air pockets. The air pockets soften the texture of the bread, allowing it to be eaten.
The simple flour, water, and salt recipe for crusty bread is shared by a number of other breads. Hardtack uses the same recipe, although white flour is used instead of rye. The tough hard biscuit was originally used as a military ration and was a staple food when it had to last a long time. Unlike crusty bread, hardtack is nearly impossible to eat on its own and must be soaked in some type of liquid.
After 1800, variations on the traditional crusty bread began to appear. Some commercial bakeries have begun adding small amounts of yeast to breads to soften the texture. Later recipes would even call for the bread to be laced with spices to add some flavor to the otherwise bland crackers.
There are a number of recipes that call for this traditional bread. These recipes are usually liquid filled, baked dishes where the dry, crusty nature of the bread will stand up to long baking times. The breads are also enjoyed as a snack when eaten with pickles or fruit jams and produce tough bread crumbs.
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