Biscuit: Encyclopedia - Biscuit

Biscuit

A biscuit is an edible snack. The exact meaning varies in different parts of the world. The origin of the word biscuit is from a Middle French word meaning "twice cooked".

Biscuit - British English meaning

In British English, Australian English and New Zealand English, a biscuit is a hard baked product which in North America may be called a "cookie" or "cracker", it should be noted however that it has become increasingly more common within England and Australia for cookie to be used to differentiate between the softer more chewy cookie and the harder more brittle biscuit. Although there are many regional varieties, both sweet and savoury, biscuit is generally used to describe the sweet version. Sweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack and may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts or even be used to sandwich other fillings. Savoury biscuits, more often called crackers, are plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal.

Generally Australians use the British English meaning of biscuit, colloquially referred to as 'bikkies' for the sweet biscuit and 'dry biscuit' for savoury biscuits. A famous Australian biscuit is the Tim Tam.

A basic biscuit recipe includes flour, shortening (often lard), baking powder or soda, milk (buttermilk or sweet milk) and sugar. Common savoury variations involve substituting sugar with an ingredient such as cheese.

Biscuit - Varieties

Common biscuit types include:

• Bath Oliver biscuits
• Bourbon biscuits
• Cream crackers
• Custard creams

• Digestive biscuits
• Chocolate digestives
• Lincoln biscuits
• Nice (biscuit)

• Rich tea
• Rubber biscuits
• Shortbread
• Water biscuits

Biscuit - American English meaning

In American English, however, "biscuit" means a form of bread similar to a roll made with baking powder or baking soda as a rising agent rather than yeast (rolls made with yeast are often called "yeast rolls" to distinguish them, and biscuits, soda breads, and corn bread are sometimes referred to collectively as "quick bread").

Biscuits are a common feature of Southern U.S. cuisine, often made with buttermilk. This form of biscuit is also known as the "rubber biscuit", as alluded to on The Blues Brothers' Briefcase Full of Blues. They are similar to scones but served as a side dish with a main meal or as a breakfast item. "Rubber" biscuits are often eaten with molasses, butter, and jam or jelly. In a dish called biscuits and gravy, biscuits are covered in "country" or white gravy usually made from bacon or sausage drippings, and occasionally with added sausage bits or patties. Biscuits also feature prominently in many fast food breakfast sandwiches. In addition, biscuits are commonly found as a side dish at fried chicken restaurants such as Kentucky Fried Chicken and Popeyes.

See also

• American and British English differences
• List of brands of biscuit
• Petit beurre, (a French biscuit)
• Biscotti, a hard Italian biscuit made with nuts

Biscuit - External link

• Site devoted to Tea and Biscuits

Categories: Articles to be split | Breads | Cookies | Breakfast foods

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Biscuit", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki