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Biscuit
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A biscuit is a small baked product; the exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world. The origin of the word "biscuit" is from Latin via Middle French and means "cooked twice", hence biscotti in Medieval Italian (similar to the German Zwieback). In modern Italian usage the term biscotti is used to refer to any type of cookie or cracker. Some of the original biscuits were British naval hard tack. That was passed down to American culture, and hard tack (biscuits) was made through the 19th century.
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A biscuit is a small baked product; the exact meaning varies markedly in different parts of the world. The origin of the word "biscuit" is from Latin via Middle French and means "cooked twice", hence biscotti in Medieval Italian (similar to the German Zwieback). In modern Italian usage the term biscotti is used to refer to any type of cookie or cracker. Some of the original biscuits were British naval hard tack. That was passed down to American culture, and hard tack (biscuits) was made through the 19th century. Throughout most of the world, the term biscuit relates to a hard, crisp, brittle, baked food, except in the USA and Canada, where it relates to a soft bread product that is only once baked.
Biscuits in British usage
A biscuit is a hard baked sweet or savoury product like a small, flat cake, which in North America may be called a "cookie" or "cracker". The term biscuit also applies to sandwich-type biscuits, where a layer of 'cream' or icing is sandwiched between two biscuits. In the UK, "cookie" is usually only used in the phrase "chocolate chip cookie" or to refer to larger, softer american style cookies. Referring to the Sesame Street character the Cookie Monster, British author Chris Roberts quipped that he prefers the word cookies over biscuits "as a character called Biscuit Monster would never have worked".
The British usage of the word biscuit was defined in the defence of a tax judgement found in favour of McVitie's and their product Jaffa Cakes which Her Majesty's Customs and Excise claimed was a biscuit and was therefore liable to value added tax—chocolate-covered biscuits are liable to VAT, chocolate-covered cakes are not. The successful defence rested on the fact that "biscuits go soft when stale, whereas cakes go hard when stale".
Sweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack and are generally made with wheat flour or oats and sweetened with sugar or honey. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts or even be used to sandwich other fillings. There is usually a dedicated section for sweet biscuits in most UK supermarkets. In Britain, the digestive biscuit and rich tea have a strong cultural identity as the traditional accompaniment to a cup of tea, and are regularly eaten as such. Many tea drinkers "dunk" their biscuits in tea, allowing them to absorb liquid and soften slightly before consumption.
Savoury biscuits or Cheese Biscuits or crackers (such as cream crackers, water biscuits, oatcakes or crisp breads) are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. Cheese & Biscuits sometimes follow dessert in British meals. There is also a large variety of savoury biscuits that contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as: poppy seeds, onion or onion seeds, chilli, cheese (such as cheese melts) and olives. Savoury biscuits also usually have a dedicated section in most UK supermarkets, usually in the same aisle as sweet biscuits. The exception to savoury biscuits is the sweetmeal digestive, known as a 'Hovis' biscuit, which although slightly sweet, is still classed as a cheese biscuit.
Generally, Australians, South Africans, New Zealanders, Indians and the Irish use the British meaning of "biscuit" (colloquially referred to by Australians as a bickie) for the sweet biscuit. Two famous Australasian biscuit varieties are the ANZAC biscuit and the Tim Tam.
Despite the difference, this sense is at the root of the name of the United States' most prominent maker of cookies and crackers, the National Biscuit Company (now called Nabisco).
Biscuits in North American usage
In American English, a "biscuit" is a small form of bread made with baking powder or baking soda as a leavening agent rather than yeast. (Biscuits, soda breads, and corn bread, among others, are sometimes referred to collectively as "quick breads" to indicate that they do not need time to rise before baking.)
Biscuits have a firm browned crust and a soft interior, similar to British scones or more closely to the bannock from the Shetland Isles. In the United States, there is a growing tendency to refer to sweet variations as "scone" and to the savory as a "biscuit", though there are exceptions for both (such as the cheese scone). A sweet biscuit layered or topped with fruit (typically strawberries), juice-based syrup, and cream is called shortcake. In Canada, both sweet and savory are referred to as "biscuits", "baking powder biscuits" or "tea biscuits", although "scone" is also starting to be used.
Biscuits are a common feature of Southern U.S. cuisine and are often made with buttermilk. They are traditionally served as a side dish with a meal. As a breakfast item they are often eaten with butter and a sweet condiment such as molasses, light sugarcane syrup, sorghum syrup, honey, or fruit jam or jelly. With other meals they are usually eaten with butter or gravy instead of sweet condiments. However, biscuits and gravy (biscuits covered in country gravy) are usually served for breakfast, sometimes as the main course.
A common variation on basic biscuits is "cheese biscuits", made by adding grated Cheddar or American cheese to the basic recipe.
American biscuits can be prepared for baking in several ways. The dough can be rolled out flat and cut into rounds, which expand when baked into flaky-layered cylinders. If extra liquid is added, the dough's texture changes to resemble stiff pancake batter so that small spoonfuls can be dropped into the baking sheet to produce "drop biscuits", which are more amorphous in texture and shape. Large drop biscuits, because of their size and rough exterior texture, are sometimes referred to as "cat head biscuits". Pre-shaped ready-to-bake biscuits can also be purchased in supermarkets, in the form of small refrigerated cylindrical segments of dough encased in a cardboard can.
Biscuits are ubiquitous throughout the U.S. and feature prominently in many fast food breakfast sandwiches. The biscuit sandwich burst onto the scene primarily through the Hardee's chain of restaurants as an answer to the McDonald's Egg McMuffin. Along with the traditional country ham, Hardee's added sausage, cheese, eggs, steak, and even chicken to the breakfast bread. Breakfast biscuits are much bigger than ham biscuits, most as big or bigger than a typical fast food hamburger. In addition, biscuits are commonly found as a side dish at fried chicken restaurants such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Church's Chicken, Chicken Express, Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits, and Bojangles' Famous Chicken n' Biscuits.
Beaten biscuits
Beaten biscuits date from the 1800s and are a Southern U.S. food. They differ from a regular biscuit in that they are more like hardtack instead of soft because the dough is beaten with a hard object or against a hard surface for at least a half hour. They are also pricked with a fork prior to baking and are usually smaller than a regular biscuit.
These are the biscuits traditionally used in "ham biscuits", also known as hog cakes, a traditional Southern canapé, which are simply tiny sandwiches of these bite-sized biscuits sliced horizontally, spread with butter, jelly, mustard, filled with pieces of country ham, or sopped up with gravy or syrup.
Dog biscuits
Dog biscuits are a dog treat intended as a dietary supplement to dog food, similar to any human snack food. Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry, much like the British definition of a biscuit, and totally unlike the American definition. Dog biscuits are frequently sold in a flat bone-shape (as might be made using a bone-shaped cookie cutter). Some dog biscuit manufacturers claim the dry and hard biscuit texture helps clean the dog's teeth while the biscuit is being eaten, promoting better oral health.
See also
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