biscuit manufacturing

The history of biscuits can be traced back to a recipe created by The
Roman chef Apicius, in which "a thick paste of fine wheat flour was boiled
and spread out on a plate. When it had dried and hardened it was cut up
and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper."
The word 'Biscuit' is
derived from
The Latin words
'Bis' (meaning 'twice')
and '
Coctus'
(meaning cooked or
baked).
The word 'Biscotti'
is also The generic
term for cookies in
Italian. Back then,
biscuits were unleavened, hard and thin wafers which, because of their low
water content, were ideal food to store.

As people started to explore The globe, biscuits became The ideal
travelling food since they stayed fresh for long periods. The seafaring age,
thus, witnessed The boom of biscuits when these were sealed in airtight
containers to last for months at a time. Hard track biscuits (earliest version
of The biscotti and present-day crackers) were part of The staple diet of
English and American sailors for many centuries. In fact, The countries
which led this seafaring charge, such as those in Western Europe, are The
ones where biscuits are most popular even today. Biscotti is said to have
been a favourite of Christopher Columbus who discovered America!

Making good biscuits is quite an art, and history bears testimony to that.
During The 17th and 18th Centuries in Europe, baking was a carefully
controlled profession, managed through a series of 'guilds' or professional
associations. To become a baker, One had to complete years of
apprenticeship - working through The ranks of apprentice, journeyman,
and finally master baker. Not only this, The amount and quality of biscuits
baked were also carefully monitored.

The English, Scotch and Dutch immigrants originally brought The first
cookies to The United States and they were called teacakes. They were
often flavoured with nothing more than The finest butter, sometimes with
The addition of a few drops of rose water. Cookies in America were also
called by such names as "jumbles", "plunkets" and "cry babies".

As technology improved during The Industrial Revolution in The 19th
century, The price of sugar and flour dropped. Chemical leavening agents,
such as baking soda, became available and a profusion of cookie recipes
occurred. This led to The development of manufactured cookies.

Interestingly, as time has passed and despite more varieties becoming
available, The essential ingredients of biscuits haven't changed - like 'soft'
wheat flour (which contains less protein than The flour used to bake
bread) sugar, and fats, such as butter and oil. Today, though they are
known by different names The world over, people agree on One thing -
nothing beats The biscuit!