Crispbread is a type of bread that is originally from Sweden. Also known by its variant of hard bread, crispbread is made primarily of rye flour and can be thought of as both a dry and hard bread or even a cracker. The benefit of crispbread is how durable it is. If stored in a dry condition, it will actually remain edible and fresh for quite some time. Its relative cheapness is also an attractive factor, as is its light weight and its simple shape that makes it easy for transport. For a long time, crispbread was thought of as nothing but a poor man's diet food, even though it was a staple food for many people for sometime.
Ingredients and Preparation
Crispbread is made out of ingredients that you can generally consider healthy: salt, water and wholemeal rye flour. Traditionally, those were the only ingredients used in crispbread, but as time wore on, the recipe for crispbread began to include more fancy ingredients like spices, grains, wheat flour and sesame seeds. Sometimes crispbread is also leavened using sourdough or just yeast. On the other hand, if what you have is unleavened crispbread, bubbles are incorporated into the dough by mechanical means. In days gone by this was achieved by means of mixing snow or powdered ice right into the dough so that it could evaporate as it then baked. Though today's crispbread process still calls for lots of water, it is cooled and then stirred until it gets bubbly. Crispbread does not require a lot of time in the oven. All it takes is a few minutes at temperatures ranging from 200 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit to bake.
Benefits to Health
Crispbread is known to contain a large amount of dietary fiber, and dietary fiber is extremely beneficial for comfortable bowel movements. Specifically, dietary fiber helps to soften up your stool, maximize bulk, and then shorten the time it takes for stool to actually travel through your intestinal tract. The significant content of dietary fiber is attributed to the presence of wholegrain, which contains very little fat. Besides the aforementioned, wholegrain is also an important source of antioxidants, vitamins, phytoestrogens and minerals. The presence of wholegrain in your diet has also been shown to lower mortality rates.
Goes Well With Cheese
Crispbread is a versatile snack, which means that it is sometimes best eaten not alone but with another food item. Cheese is a great companion to crispbread because of crispbread's understated quality. Without any overpowering flavors, crispbread is ideal to highlight and even complement the attributes and flavors of cheese. Because it is not filling, crispbread makes a wonderful pairing with cheeses such as artisan goat cheese, where it builds on the already nice elegance of said cheese. Some manufacturers make crispbread that is lighter and crispier than others, and it is these types that function perfectly as a cracker to pair with cheese.
