Thanks to the rapid expansion of social media, we are now able to know and learn about cultures without actually travelling across the world. There is so much interesting content that we encounter on our social media feeds every single day from the comfort of our own homes. Travel bloggers often share some wonderful snippets of their travel journeys online too. One such travel blogger named Kyana Sue Powers is currently living in Reykjavik, Iceland and she has shared one curious yet interesting fact about cooking in the country. According to an Instagram Reels video by @kyanasue, it is a tradition in Iceland to bake bread and boil eggs with the natural heat from the hot springs. Thus, there is no need for an oven and natural heat makes the ground a makeshift geothermal 'bakery'. The video clip has received over 66.7k views and 4.3k likes. Take a look at the video she shared.
Believe it or not, the people in Iceland actually bake bread and boil eggs by using natural heat from the hot springs near them. This is their natural 'geothermal bakery' and they don't even need an oven here!
According to the video by Kyana Sue Powers, she said that new hot springs are discovered in Iceland every single day. In the town of Laugarvatn, it is actually a popular tradition to bake rye bread using ground heat, dating back several centuries. The lake there has natural hot water springs where the water can go up to 100 degrees Celsius in temperature. Thus, you can use the naturally boiling water to bake bread and even do other things like boil eggs, cook stews and make cakes too! As per the video, eggs will boil in just 10 minutes. Meanwhile, baking bread would take about 24 hours.
(Also Read: Believe It Or Not, Iceland Has Preserved Its Last Big Mac Meal As Part Of History)
So, how does one go about baking bread using the heat from the hot springs? According to reports, the dough is prepared and added to a big pan that is strong enough and has a lid on it. The dough is secured from all sides with the help of plastic film so that it stays intact. Then, this vessel is buried in the ground and covered with sand. Thanks to the boiling water underneath it, the bread cooks and is ready to eat within a day! You can enjoy fresh and hot bread with butter, jam, honey, sugar or any other dip of choice. You can also top it with freshly boiled eggs or fish such as trout or salmon.
What did you think of the unique baking tradition in Iceland? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.