A Scandinavian Treat...HARDTACK

Enlarge Image Image Gallery

DOKUS CUDDY

The national heritage of many nations includes some delicious form of flatbread: the Mexican tortilla, Italian pizza chapati from India . . . and, here in northern Minnesota, the descendants of Scandinavian settlers still bake hardtack. While visiting a local farmhouse, John (my husband) and I happened to sample some of that last delicacy. We liked it so much that, as we left, our hostess made us a gift of a whole bagful to take along. Although our farm was only four miles away, the sack was empty by the time we arrived home! Everyone I know who's tried this nutritious fare acclaims it as THE super munchie.

Hardtack can be made with any combination of flours you choose: corn, wheat, oats, barley, rice, rye or unbleached white . . . but if you use a generous ratio of whole grain flours the taste is sure to be delicious. Buttermilk, yogurt, whey, cream and sweet or sour milk may be used interchangeably as the necessary liquid, or you can try mixing them.

The real art of making good, crunchy hardtack lies in rolling the dough very thin. The traditional method is to compound a stiff mixture, put some flour on a board and then take a small lump of the blend and spread it out as much as possible. Then comes the difficult part . . . transferring the flimsy film to a cookie sheet. John experimented with several batches and found that this last step was just too hard to handle . . . so he eliminated it altogether by simply rolling the dough out on the flat pan in the first place.

Here, then, is the "new, improved" Cuddy method of making hardtack: First, lightly grease and flour your baking surface. Then take an egg-sized piece of dough (enough to cover a 14" X 16" sheet when it is spread out), dust the lump with flour to prevent sticking (repeat as necessary), center the ball on the cookie sheet and squash it slightly with your palm.