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    Stompa – tangy rye flatbread from the frying pan by the fire

    Rye, buttermilk and fennel – one soft bread at a time from the pan

    • 16 stompa breads
    • Time: 10 min at home + 15 min by the fire + 30–40 min cooking
    • Difficulty: Easy
    • 11 ingredients
    • 17 steps
    To the recipe
    Two northern Swedish tunnbröd flatbreads on a wooden table, on the left a pricked bread with brown bubbles from baking and on the right a thinner, pale bread with uneven edges.
    Photo: Mikael Lindmark, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

    The pan has been sitting on the stones for a while and is so hot that a dusting of flour darkens in a few seconds. The first round goes in dry, and after half a minute the surface starts to bubble and the smell of rye and fennel drifts out across the fire pit. A flick of the spatula, a flip, another minute – and then into the stack under the tea towel, where the next bread will soon land on top.

    Stompa is a small, soft Swedish flatbread made with rye and wheat, raised with bicarbonate of soda and filmjölk (Swedish soured milk; buttermilk works too) instead of yeast. It's often flavoured with fennel or anise and a little syrup, rather like a limpa (Swedish sweet rye loaf), and cooked in a dry frying pan. The bread is also called frying-pan bread, but it's a different bread from bannock, which is a single round about one and a half centimetres thick, fried in fat under a lid for five to seven minutes per side. A stompa is only a few millimetres thin, cooks without fat in a couple of minutes and is perfect for rolling around a sausage, cheese or suovas.

    What is stompa?

    Today the word is used for a simple home-made bread that many people were given by a grandmother, and that some outdoor schools make over the fire. The recipes differ in the details, but the basis is the same: rye flour and wheat flour, bicarbonate of soda, something sour like filmjölk, a little sweetness and spices, rolled out thin and cooked in a hot pan without fat. There are also home bakers who make stompa with yeast, but it's the soda and the soured milk that give the bread its slightly tangy taste.

    In older dialects, in Värmland and Västergötland among other places, stompa meant something completely different, namely mash – bönstompa was boiled beans and rovstompa boiled turnips, mashed into a thick porridge. So the bread has nothing to do with the mash apart from the name.

    How it differs from other breads by the fire:

    • Stompa is thin, soft and cooks in a dry pan in a few minutes. It's rolled around a filling or eaten with soup.
    • Bannock is a thick round of wheat flour and baking powder fried in fat under a lid.
    • Stick bread is wrapped around a stick and cooked by each person themselves – see stick bread over an open fire.
    • Flatbread on a stone is a simple wheat dough made with water and baked directly on a hot stone – see flatbread on a hot stone.

    The three Ts

    Everything that decides whether the stompa turns out soft and cooked through fits into three words.

    • Thin. Roll it out to about 3 millimetres. Then the heat gets right through before the surface burns, and the bread stays pliable.
    • Dry pan. No fat. Fat fries the surface hard and makes the bread greasy. Steady, medium-high heat is enough.
    • Stack. Put each finished bread on a stack wrapped in a tea towel. The steam from the warm breads keeps the whole stack soft.

    Method

    1. Light the fire in good time and let it burn down to steady embers with a few flames at the edge. How to build it is explained in lighting a fire. Set the pan firmly on a grill or stones and let it heat up for 5–10 minutes.
    2. Tip the dry mix into the bowl or leave it in the bag. Stir the syrup into the filmjölk and pour it into the flour.
    3. Stir and knead quickly into a soft dough that comes away from your hands. If it's sticky, sprinkle over a little wheat flour. If it's so dry that it cracks, add a little more filmjölk, a tablespoon at a time. Don't knead for long – it's enough for everything to hold together.
    4. Divide the dough in half, then into quarters and so on until you have 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and turn it in flour.
    5. Roll out one ball at a time into a round about 15–18 centimetres across, or the size of the bottom of the pan. It should be about 3 millimetres thick and floured on both sides.
    6. Prick the round a few times with the fork so it doesn't puff up like a balloon.
    7. Test the heat: sprinkle a little flour into the pan. If it turns light brown in a few seconds, it's just right. If it turns black straight away, the pan is too hot – lift it higher or move it towards the edge of the embers.
    8. Put the round in the dry pan. After about 45 seconds to a minute, small bubbles appear on top and the edge comes loose. That's when you flip it. The times are approximate, as the heat over a fire is never completely even – it's the bubbles and the colour that decide.
    9. Cook the other side for about a minute. The bread is done when both sides have brown spots and the round feels firm but pliable when you lift it with the spatula. The middle shouldn't look shiny or doughy.
    10. Put the bread straight into the tea towel and fold it over. Put each new bread on top of the stack. Roll out the next bread while the previous one cooks.
    11. Brush burnt flour out of the pan with a dry wad of kitchen paper now and then, or it will give a bitter taste.
    12. Leave the stack under the tea towel for a few minutes before you eat. That way even the first breads go soft again.

    How to tell it's going right

    1. Bubbles after half a minute to a minute: the heat is right.
    2. Bubbles after several minutes and a pale underside: the pan is too cool. Move it in towards the embers or add more wood.
    3. Black spots before it bubbles: the pan is too hot. Lift it or move it out towards the edge.
    4. The bread puffs up like a pillow: nothing's wrong, but prick more holes in the next one.
    5. The bread is hard and brittle like crispbread: it has been in too long or had too much heat. Put it on the stack anyway – it will soften a bit.

    6. How to read the heat in the pan and where the hottest part of the cooking surface is can be found in the guide to griddle and frying pan. A larger griddle pan takes three or four breads at once and makes the cooking much quicker.

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    At home and by the fire

    At home. Crush the fennel coarsely and mix it with all the dry ingredients in a sealed bag. Tie the bag and write on it how much filmjölk and syrup need to go in. Pour the syrup into a small jar with a lid.

    On the way. The filmjölk is a chilled food. Pack it in the cool box with ice packs and put the cool box in the shade when you arrive. In summer heat it shouldn't be left out for more than two hours, and never in the sun.

    By the fire. Don't mix the dough until the pan is almost hot. The bicarbonate starts working as soon as it meets the soured milk, and a dough that sits waiting for a long time loses some of its rise. If you're making lots of breads, you can cook half at home on the hob and only cook the rest over the fire.

    Doing it all at home. Stompa is great for cooking at home and bringing along. Let the stack cool under the tea towel, put the breads in a bag and warm them for half a minute per side in the pan by the fire. Leftover breads can be frozen.

    Safety around the pan and the fire

    A cast-iron pan stays hot long after it has been lifted off the fire, and the handle gets as hot as the cooking surface. Always use a barbecue mitt, and put the pan on a stone or a grill, never on the ground where someone could step on it. Have the children stay on the rolling-out side of the fire while an adult handles the pan.

    If someone burns themselves: cool with cool water for about a quarter of an hour, no longer, and never with ice or snow. Seek medical care if there are blisters over an area larger than the injured person's hand, if the burn is on the face, the hands or over a joint, and always if the child is one year old or younger. More about safe fires can be found in fire safety in nature. Always check whether there's a fire ban – the county administrative board's or the municipality's decision is what counts, and the rules are in lighting fires outdoors.

    The filmjölk: no more than two hours out in summer heat, and never in the sun. Only take it out of the cool box when it's time to mix the dough.

    Raw dough: flour isn't heat-treated and can in rare cases contain EHEC bacteria, which can cause serious stomach illness. The risk is very small and the bacteria die when the bread is cooked, but don't taste the raw dough, and wash your hands before and after rolling out. How to do it without running water is explained in hygiene and washing up outdoors.

    Allergens: stompa contains gluten from rye and wheat and milk from the filmjölk. See the gluten-free and dairy-free options under the variations.

    Stompa with children

    Stompa is one of the best breads to bake with children, because each bread only takes a couple of minutes and everyone can make their own. At home the children can measure out the flour, crush the fennel in the mortar and tie up the bag.

    By the fire they can roll balls, turn them in flour and roll out their own rounds on a chopping board. Let them make patterns with the fork – a heart, an initial or a face shows up clearly once the bread is cooked. One child can be the timekeeper and say when it's time to flip, and another can look after the stack and the tea towel. The pan, the flipping and the fire are handled by an adult, or by an older child with a barbecue mitt and an adult alongside.

    Let the children eat their own bread first. More jobs to suit different ages can be found in cooking with children over a fire.

    Tips for stompa

    • Crush the spices. Whole fennel seeds just sprinkled in give hard bits to bite on. Coarsely crushed, they flavour the whole bread.
    • Roll out on a pot lid if you haven't brought a chopping board. A stainless steel lid with a little flour works well.
    • Use plenty of flour. A sticky patch on the round burns onto the pan straight away.
    • Two pans are quicker. One pan over the embers and one at the edge to warm breads that are already cooked.
    • Well-seasoned cast iron releases the bread without fat. How to look after the pan is explained in cast iron.
    • Serve straight from the stack with butter and cheese, roll it around a hot dog like a tunnbrödsrulle (a soft flatbread wrap) or fill it with suovas in flatbread.

    Common mistakes

    • The dough was mixed at home in the morning. The bicarbonate has used up its rise, and the breads turn out flat and dense. Mix by the fire, or cook everything at home.
    • Too much bicarbonate. The bread tastes soapy and has a bitter aftertaste. Measure a level teaspoon.
    • Fat in the pan. The bread turns greasy and hard on the surface. Wipe out the pan and cook dry.
    • Rounds that are too thick. The middle stays doughy. Roll thinner, or cook a little longer on a lower heat.
    • The breads are left without a tea towel. They dry out and turn like crispbread. Put them on the stack straight away. If they've already gone hard, lay a damp tea towel over the stack for a while.
    • Burnt flour in the pan. Wipe out the pan every few breads.

    Ways to vary the stompa

    • Gluten-free: swap the flour for a gluten-free flour mix for bread and flour generously. The dough is looser and cracks more easily, so make the rounds a little smaller.
    • Dairy-free: swap the filmjölk for a cultured oat product of the soured-milk or yoghurt type, or for water with an extra teaspoon of baking powder, as the bicarbonate needs something sour to rise.
    • Dark and sweet: dark syrup and a little more rye make the bread almost like a limpa.
    • With caraway: swap the fennel for caraway, which goes well with sausage and cheese.
    • Small stompa for breakfast: roll out rounds the size of your palm, eat them with butter and lingonberry jam and a cup of kokkaffe (boiled coffee) by the morning fire.
    • On a stone or griddle: the breads can be cooked on a hot, flat stone the same way as tunnbröd. How it's done is explained in baking over a fire without an oven.

    Frequently asked questions

    What is stompa?

    Stompa is a small, soft flatbread made with rye flour and wheat flour, raised with bicarbonate of soda and filmjölk (Swedish soured milk). It's often flavoured with fennel or anise and a little syrup and cooked in a dry frying pan for about a minute per side. It's also called frying-pan bread.

    What's the difference between stompa and tunnbröd?

    Stompa is a kind of soft tunnbröd (Swedish flatbread). What sets it apart from most other flatbreads is that it's raised with bicarbonate of soda and filmjölk instead of yeast or no raising agent at all, that it contains rye and spices, and that it's cooked in a frying pan rather than in an oven or on a stone.

    How long should the stompa be in the pan?

    About a minute per side in a pan over medium-high heat, but the heat over a fire varies, so let the bread decide, not the clock. Flip it when bubbles appear on top and the edge comes loose. The bread is done when both sides have brown spots and the round is firm but pliable.

    Can you make stompa without filmjölk?

    Yes. Swap the filmjölk for yoghurt, kefir or a cultured oat product of the soured-milk or yoghurt type, which are also sour. With ordinary milk or water you need an extra teaspoon of baking powder, as bicarbonate only rises together with something sour.

    How do you get stompa soft?

    Roll it thin, cook it briefly and put each bread straight onto a stack wrapped in a tea towel. The steam from the warm breads makes the whole stack soft.

    Can you freeze stompa?

    Yes. Let the breads cool under the tea towel, put them in a bag and freeze. Warm them for half a minute per side in a dry pan by the fire, and they'll be soft again.

    More guides and recipes to read

    More for the pan and the bread basket

    Four stompa at a time on the griddle

    A large griddle cooks several breads at once. Here's how to read the heat in the three rings and move the breads between them.

    To the griddle guide

    Soup to dip your stompa in

    Pea soup in a pot over the fire with a stack of warm stompa alongside – with butter and a little mustard it makes a whole meal.

    To the pea soup

    More jobs for the children by the fire

    What children of different ages can do themselves, where to draw the line and how to divide up the work around the fire.

    To the children's guide