Dorset Knob
Encyclopedia
A Dorset Knob is a hard dry savoury biscuit
which is today made by only a single producer, Moores Biscuits, in Morcombelake four miles west of Bridport
in the west of the county of Dorset
in England
.
Dorset Knobs are made from bread dough which contains extra sugar and butter. They are rolled and shaped by hand. They are baked three times. Once cooked, they are very crumbly and rather like very dry stale bread
or rusk
s in consistency. They are named after Dorset knob buttons.
Dorset Knobs are typically eaten with cheese (for example, Dorset Blue Vinney
). They are normally sold in a distinctive and traditional tin. Dorset Knobs are said to have been a favourite food of local author Thomas Hardy
.
In the past there were a number of producers of Dorset Knobs. Today the only firm to produce them commercially is Moores Biscuits. The Moore family have baked biscuits in Dorset since before 1860. The bakery was established in 1880 by Samuel Moore and manufactures a variety of traditional biscuits in addition to the Dorset Knob. Dorset Knobs are only produced during the months of January and February. A Dorset Knob throwing competition is held in the Dorset village of Cattistock
every year on the first Sunday in May. The festival also includes such events as a knob and spoon race, knob darts, knob painting and guess the weight of the knob.
Biscuit
A biscuit is a baked, edible, and commonly flour-based product. The term is used to apply to two distinctly different products in North America and the Commonwealth Nations....
which is today made by only a single producer, Moores Biscuits, in Morcombelake four miles west of Bridport
Bridport
Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
in the west of the county of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
.
Dorset Knobs are made from bread dough which contains extra sugar and butter. They are rolled and shaped by hand. They are baked three times. Once cooked, they are very crumbly and rather like very dry stale bread
Staling
Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and other foods that reduces their palatability. Stale bread is dry and leathery.-Mechanism and effects:...
or rusk
Rusk
A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food. In the United Kingdom, the name also refers to a wheat-based food additive.- Germany :The zwieback A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food....
s in consistency. They are named after Dorset knob buttons.
Dorset Knobs are typically eaten with cheese (for example, Dorset Blue Vinney
Dorset Blue Vinney cheese
Dorset Blue Vinney is a traditional blue cheese made near Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England, from skimmed cows' milk. It is a hard, crumbly cheese. "Vinney" is a local Dorset term related to the obsolete word "vinew", which means to become mouldy...
). They are normally sold in a distinctive and traditional tin. Dorset Knobs are said to have been a favourite food of local author Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
.
In the past there were a number of producers of Dorset Knobs. Today the only firm to produce them commercially is Moores Biscuits. The Moore family have baked biscuits in Dorset since before 1860. The bakery was established in 1880 by Samuel Moore and manufactures a variety of traditional biscuits in addition to the Dorset Knob. Dorset Knobs are only produced during the months of January and February. A Dorset Knob throwing competition is held in the Dorset village of Cattistock
Cattistock
Cattistock is a village in west Dorset, England, sited in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley eight miles north west of Dorchester. The Dorset poet William Barnes called it "elbow-streeted Cattstock", a comment on the less-than-linear village street...
every year on the first Sunday in May. The festival also includes such events as a knob and spoon race, knob darts, knob painting and guess the weight of the knob.