Is it a biscuit?

by Nicole Weston, Posted Jan 9th 2006 @ 7:40PM

Some cakes are biscuits. Some crackers are biscuits. Many biscuits are neither crackers nor cakes. So what are they? A nice cup of tea and a sit down has put together a brief taxonomy of biscuits, charting their various incarnations and degrees of relatedness. The most useful part of the guide, as in every great taxonomical reference, is the "how to spot biscuits" section. It includes key points, vital for biscuit identification:

Does it come in a packet?
Does it have two sides?
Can you dunk it in tea?

You could very well have a biscuit on your hands. But check out the guide to find out precisely what level of biscuit you're dealing with before proceeding. Unless you have already dunked it in your tea, in which case, you should eat it.

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Filed Under: On the Blogs, Food Quest, How To
Tags: biscuits, cake, cookies, Food Quest, how to, nice cup of tea and a sit down, taxonomy, tea, types of biscuits, types of cookies, what is a biscuit

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-09-2006 @10:18PM extramsg said... Much too British. From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biscuit

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.

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.

Now "scone" -- that's a word in need of a taxonomy chart.

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