Happily for me, there is a second season out now of The Reluctant Traveler, featuring the actor and comedian Eugene Levy. In this season he visits seven wildly different European destinations. It’s such an enjoyable show because he truly travels reluctantly, but of course gains delightful experiences from his travels – as he calls it – “My journey to self-discovery.” I wrote about the show some in my post The Best Pancake in the World!, from when he explored a part of Utah in the first season.
In the first episode of the second season, Mr. Levy travels to Gammelstad, Sweden, for the Midsommar (mid-summer) celebration, which celebrates the longest day of the year.
Screenshot
He was very taken with the Swedish people and their traditions. On one day, Mr. Levy makes a yeasted bread with a woman and her mother. It’s a flatbread called Mjukkaka, baked in what looks like a pizza oven.
I found what looked to be a similar bread from the food blog True North Kitchen, where American Kristi exposes her readers to Scandinavian cuisine.
She calls her flatbread Tunnbröd, which of course is different than Mjukkaka, but seems identical recipe-wise. And when I looked into these names further, it got even more confusing, with more names describing the same kind of bread. But I did read that the flatbreads can be thin and crispy, or thicker and puffy. So perhaps that explains the different names.
Believe it or not, the most popular way of eating this bread is stuffed with mashed potatoes, crisp onion or chips, hot dogs, mustard, ketchup, and relish. It’s served like a cone, that holds the not-so-enticing-if-you’re-not-Swedish goodies.
Mjukkaka
or, Tunnbröd
2 cups bread flour plus an extra tablespoon or two if necessary and more for rolling the dough
3/4 cup barley flour
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 cup water room temperature
1/4 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon canola oil plus more for oiling the bowl and cooking the flatbreads
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Flaky sea salt for sprinkling
Whisk bread flour, barley flour, yeast, salt and sugar together by hand in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add water, yogurt and 1 tablespoon oil to the dry ingredients.
Fit a stand mixer with the dough hook and begin mixing at medium-low speed until dough just comes together. Increase mixer speed to medium and knead dough for three minutes. If dough is sticking to the sides or the bottom after the first 3 minutes of kneading, add an additional tablespoon of bread flour before continuing the kneading process. Continue kneading at medium speed until the dough is tacky but not sticky and clears the bottom and sides of the bowl, approximately 2-3 more minutes. Add an additional tablespoon or two of bread flour if dough continues to stick to the sides or bottom of the bowl during the kneading process.
(I did not use a stand mixer, but kneaded the dough by hand.)
Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for an hour at room temperature or until doubled in size.
Transfer dough to a clean countertop and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rough ball. Cover with plastic wrap.
Add a teaspoon or so of canola oil to a 10 or 12-inch cast iron skillet. Heat over medium heat.
Working with one piece of dough at a time, use a rolling pin to create a thin circular flatbread (like a thin tortilla). If the dough sticks to the rolling pin, sprinkle a little flour on top. It’s okay if the dough is sticking to the work surface.
Finish by rolling the flatbread a couple of times with a kruskavel or poking it at 1 inch intervals with a fork or skewer. Brush off any excess flour from the top of the dough.
Using a dough scraper and your fingers, gently release the flatbread from the countertop. Wipe the oil from the skillet with a paper towel so that only a thin film remains. Place the dough round in the heated skillet. Cook for one minute or until brown and spotty on the first side. Flip the bread over and cook for another minute.
Remove the flatbread from the skillet and transfer to a plate. Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with coarse salt.
Cover with a piece of parchment paper and stack a clean kitchen towel on top.
Repeat the process with the remaining portions of dough. I like to turn off the burner in between cooking each flatbread to minimize any smoking of the cast-iron skillet. Simply turn it back to medium and add a little oil as you finish rolling the next flatbread. Eat immediately or wrap tightly and freeze once the flatbreads have cooled to room temperature.
I served the breads with butter and strawberry jam. Delicious!
