Love a Tea Biscuit?
The tea biscuit is not like the flaky biscuit in America. These are most often thought of as digestive biscuits in Britain and are semisweet in flavor. Why the term digestive is used? It is because the British believed them to have an antacid effect with having sodium bicarbonate in them. This has not been totally proven though. What Do Tea Biscuits Contain? These biscuits usually have a brown coarse wheat flour, whole meal, sugar, salt, vegetable oil, along with raising agents normally tartaric acid, malic acid and sodium bicarbonate. Some recipes may also add oatmeal, whey, cultured skimmed milk and or E472e or another emulsifier. How Are These Biscuits Served? The biscuits are served with tea usually in Britain. At times people dip them in their tea. The trick is to eat them quickly before they fall apart. These are the perfect treat to serve with any flavor of tea. Since these biscuits are only semisweet they will not overpower the flavor of the tea. Other countries also have their versions of biscuits. Sweet ones are found containing fruit, nuts, jams and even with various fillings as a sandwiched biscuit. These can be found in many European markets. In The United States Now if you mention the word biscuit in the United States you mean a totally different product. In the U.S. a biscuit is flaky, big and is a quick bread rather than a cookie. These biscuits can be served with tea too if you like. They are usually served with butter on them and either a jelly, jam or honey on them rather than dunked in tea. So there are different meanings for the word biscuit depending on where you are in the world.
Egyptians and Romans both had a wheat cake that they would carry on their journeys. The Egyptians had a dourra cake made from millet while the Romans had a buccellum or biscuit made of wheat. The early ships carried hardtack which was a biscuit or cracker. This was great considering the ships had limited storage for food. The modern biscuits originated from this hardtack. You can buy premade versions of these biscuits today to add to a gift basket of various teas too. These baskets make wonderful birthday presents, get-well presents, or presents for any occasions. You could even take one for a hostess gift.
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Where Did These Biscuits Originate?