The biscuit : the history of a very British indulgence / Lizzie Collingham.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Collingham, E. M. (Elizabeth M.), author.

Contributor:

James Samuel Blank Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Baked products.

History.

Cookies.

Great Britain.

Cookies--Great Britain--History.

Baked products--History.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

301 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations (some colour) ; 21 cm

Place of Publication:

London : The Bodley Head, 2020.

Summary:

Bourbons. Custard Creams. Rich Tea. Jammie Dodgers. Chocolate Digestives. Shortbread. Ginger snaps. Which is your favourite? British people eat more biscuits than any other nation; they are as embedded in our culture as fish and chips or the Sunday roast. But biscuits are not only tasty treats to go with a cup of tea, the sustenance they afford is often emotional, evoking nostalgic memories of childhood. Lizzie Collingham begins in Roman times when biscuits - literally, 'twice-baked' bread - became the staple of the poor; she takes us to the Middle East, where the addition of sugar to the dough created the art of confectionery. Yet it was in Britain that bakers experimented to create the huge variety of biscuits which populate our world today. And when the Industrial Revolution led to their mass production, biscuits became integral to the British diet. We follow the humble biscuit's transformation from durable staple for sailors, explorers and colonists to sweet luxury for the middling classes to comfort food for an entire nation. Like an assorted tin of biscuits, this charming and beautifully illustrated book has something to offer for everyone, combining recipes for hardtack and macaroons, Shrewsbury biscuits and Garibaldis, with entertaining and eye-opening vignettes of social history.

Contents:

Chapter 1 In which the slaves in the Modestus bakery over-bake their bread p. 1

Chapter 2 In which Ibrahim bin al-Mahdi writes a poem about sweet biscuits p. 11

Chapter 3 In which Bartolomeo Scappi serves Pope Pius IV mostaccioli biscuits p. 17

Wafers and Waffles p. 32

Chapter 4 In which Lady Elinor Fettiplace bakes 'stif bisket bread' p. 39

Gingerbread p. 55

Chapter 5 In which Spanish fishermen make biscuit soup on the Barbary coast p. 66

Chapter 6 In which Joseph Banks enjoys fish and biscuit boiled for about an hour p. 81

Chapter 7 In which Mrs Elizabeth Raffald opens a confectionery shop in Manchester p. 96

Funeral Biscuits p. 114

Chapter 8 In which Henry Mayhew marvels at the fabrication of fancy biscuits by a series of cog-wheels and cranks p. 117

Digestive Biscuits p. 140

Chapter 9 In which the English drown the French market with cataracts of plain and fancy biscuits p. 152

Chapter 10 In which King Mwanga puts the lid on one of John Roscoe's last tins of Osborne biscuits and carries them home p. 166

Biscuit Tins p. 178

Chapter 11 In which May Hanaphy gives every penny of the 11s. 6d she earned at Jacob's to her mother p. 187

Chapter 12 In which Private G. L. Verney has fried corned beef and biscuit for breakfast, cold bully beef and biscuit for lunch and bully beef and biscuit stew for supper p. 204

Anzac Biscuits p. 220

Chapter 13 In which Pam Ashford anxiously stockpiles biscuits p. 226.

Notes:

Include bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the James Samuel Blank Fund.

ISBN:

9781847926128

1847926126

OCLC:

1138589766

Publisher Number:

99986108382