BBC: The language of biscuits

Biscuits- a subject very close to my heart- something important to me and that interests me. 

I know, Rob. You are a biscuit connoisseur after all. And in the UK, many of us love to nibble on these sweet treats. And we have losts of names for them too. (감정가=expert, connisseur)

Yes, we have the chocolate digestive, the garibaldi, the sustard cream and the jammie dodger. It's making my mouth water. 

I can see. But we're not going to be tucking into any biscuits today. Instead, we'll be looking at the origins and the language of this humble snack. And before we do that, Rob, let's test your knowledge of biscuits with a question. The British aren't the only fans of biscuits. So in which country are barazeks traditionally eaten? Is it in...

a) Syria   b) Morocco,  or c) Spain?

Hmmm, well I have not eaten on, but I'll have a guess at Syria. 

OK, I'll reveal the right answer later on. But now, let's talk more about biscuits, also sometimes known as cookies. They come in all shapes, sizes, and varieties. 

They can be sweet or savoury- but I prefer the sweet ones that are crisp, crunchy and are good for dunking in my tea. Dunking means dipping into liquid for a short period of time. 

But enough about your eating habits, Rob. Let's find out how the biscuit got its name. It's something the BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth has been exploring. Dr Laura Wright, a historical linguist from the University of Cambridge, explains its origins,,,

From Latin 'biscoctum'- twice cooked. And it comes to us via Angio- Norman French, but it's bread that's been cooked twice to extract all the moisture so that it goes hard, and it'll stay fit for consumption for a very long time, whcih is why you can take it to sea and have a sea biscuit... and fromt the 1500 at least we spelt it like it sounds 'bisket'... but at some point, in the 1800, reasons of poncy-ness!

So, the English word of biscuits has its origins in Latin. It describes cooking bread twice to make it hard. This backing process meant a biscuit could be kept for a long time, and as Dr. Wright said, it would stay fit for consumption- another way of saying 'edible' or able to be eaten. 

That's wahy they were taken on long sea voyages- but they weren't like the biscuits we eat now- tehy were plain, simple and very hard baked. Interestingly, the word biscuit used to be spelt B-I-S-K-E-T but the French spelling B-I-S-C-U-I-T was later adopted. 

Biscuits are handy go-to snack for when I'm hungry or bored. But how did biscuits become such a popular foodstuff and how did we come to depend on them so much?

It's something Anastasis Edwards, author of Biscuits and Cookies, A  Gloval History, talked about in the World of Mouth programme. Listen to the word she uses to mean 'food' in her explanation...

One key fact in the rise in the popularity of the biscuit is meal times. Before the Industrial Revolution, people have a later breakfast and earlier supper. By the end of the Industrial Revolution, breakfast is much earlier, the evening meal is much later, so you've got this big gap of time where people need sustenance, and so lunch comes to greater prominence and tea time comes to greater prominence, and snacking- so there's this great opportunity for biscuits- something small, something ready, something easily consumable, not expensive, you know, a bit of a sugar rush. 

Right, so it was teh Indurstrial Revolution that led to the rise- that's the increase- in the popularity of biscuits. Because the time between breakfast and dinner in the evening increased, people got hungry and they needed food to give them energy- what Anastasia called sustenance. 

So, this is when smaller meals, such as lunch or tea, became important or more well- known- it had greater prominence. And this included snacking on biscuits. These wre cheap and easily consumable- easy and quick to eat. And because of their ingredients, they gave you a sugar rush- a quick blast of energy. (a type of importance= prominence)

Of course, now, we eat biscuits at any time, and because of their sugar content, we know to only eat them in moderation- Rob!

I think a packet a day is fine- but a whole box, well, that would really take the biscuit!

Take the biscuit! Good idiom there, Rob, to mean 'be the most foolish, annoying or surprising thing to do'. But now let's find out the answer to my quiz question. Earlier, I asked which country are barazeks traditionally eaten in?

And I thought Syria. Was I right?

Yes, you were. Well done. You are a smart cookie! Barazeks are biscuits filled with roasted sesame seeds and pistachio chips.