Jump to content

Abernethy biscuit

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Abernethy biscuit
Place of originUnited Kingdom
Created byJohn Abernethy
Main ingredientsHardtack, sugar, caraway seeds

The Abernethy biscuit was invented by surgeon John Abernethy in the 18th century as a digestive improver.[1]

Abernethy believed that most diseases were due to disorders in digestion. The Abernethy biscuit is a type of digestive biscuit, a baked good originally designed to be eaten as a support to proper digestion.[2] In creating his biscuit, Abernethy was following a trend of other medical practitioners like English William Oliver of Bath, Somerset, inventor of the Bath Oliver; and the American preacher Sylvester Graham, a nutrition expert after whom the graham cracker is named.[3]

The Abernethy biscuit is an adaptation of the plain captain's biscuit or hardtack, with the added ingredients of sugar (for energy), and caraway seeds because of their reputation for having a carminative (prevents flatulence) effect[4] making them beneficial in digestive disorders. The biscuit is between an all butter biscuit and a shortcake, raising through the use of ammonium bicarbonate. According to The Oxford Companion to Food, a baker at a shop where Abernethy regularly had lunch created the new biscuit when Abernethy suggested it, naming it after him.[5]

Abernethy biscuits are still popular in Scotland. They are manufactured commercially by Simmers (Edinburgh), The Westray Bakehouse (Orkney Islands), Walls Bakeries (Shetland Islands), and by Stag Bakeries (Isle of Lewis).[6]

Sample ingredient list

[edit]

The following are ingredients:[7]

Abernethy Biscuits.
Abernethy biscuits
Abernethy plaque.
Middlemass, Scottish Abernethy plaque

Selected references in art and history

[edit]

When British statesman William Gladstone was Vice-President of the Board of Trade in the 1840s, his luncheon consisted of an Abernethy biscuit, brought to him by his wife.[8]

In the libretto of the comic opera Princess Toto written by W. S. Gilbert (first performance 24 June 1876) the king disguises himself as an Abernethy biscuit.[9]

In Charles Dickens's first novel, The Pickwick Papers, the character Mr. Solomon Pell is found, "in court, regaling himself, ... , with a cold collation of an Abernethy biscuit and a saveloy".[10]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Laura Halpin Rinsky; Glenn Rinsky (2009). The Pastry Chef's Companion: A Comprehensive Resource Guide for the Baking and Pastry Professional. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 1. ISBN 978-0-470-00955-0. OCLC 173182689.
  2. ^ "Abernethy Biscuits". The Foods of England. Retrieved 13 November 2014.
  3. ^ "Abernethy biscuit". theoldfoodie.com. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  4. ^ Prosper Montagné (1961). Larousse Gastronomique: The Encyclopedia of Food, Wine & Cookery. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc. pp. 209–210. ISBN 978-0-517-50333-1.
  5. ^ Alan Davidson (2006). The Oxford Companion to Food. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 78. ISBN 0-19-280681-5.
  6. ^ "Abernethy biscuit". bakersandlarners.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2010. Retrieved 14 January 2010.
  7. ^ "Traditional Scottish Recipes - Abernethy Biscuits". Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  8. ^ George William Erskine Russell. Seeing and Hearing. p. 169. Retrieved 3 November 2018 – via Project Gutenberg.
  9. ^ W. S. Gilbert. "Princess Toto – An entirely new and original English Comic Opera in Three Acts" (PDF). The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive. p. 57. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  10. ^ The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, (1836) p. 774, Charles Dickens