Gæðabakstur, perhaps best known to our readers as the bakers who provide renowned hot dog vendors Bæjarins Bestu with their buns, has one business that consistently does well every year: laufabrauð.
For the unfamiliar, laufabrauð (literally, “leaf bread”) is one of Iceland’s winter holiday staples. These thin, round disks of dough are traditionally decorated with festive cuts, making them resemble snowflakes, and then deep fried. No Icelandic holiday dinner is complete without them.
While you can buy laufabrauð from any number of companies, MBL reports that those sold by Gæðabakstur are particularly popular, as the company sells anywhere from 700,000 to 800,000 each holiday season. They are so popular, in fact, that preparations begin months in advance.
“We begin making unfried laufabrauð in September,” Vilhjálmur Þorláksson, the managing director of Gæðabakstur, tells reporters. “Around mid-October, we begin frying them and they’re in the stores in the beginning of November. Then we start frying them every day. That’s just how it is; there’s a lot of work involved in this. As always, we’ve been very lucky with our staff, and everyone puts their all into making this run smoothly. You can’t do this without great people, both in production and distribution.”
There is no shortage of laufabrauð in Iceland, and they are quite affordable, so definitely pick up a box if you have the chance.
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