A biscuit (pronounced /bɪskɨt/) is a baked edible product. The word applies to two distinctly different products in American and British English. In American English it relates to a small soft leavened bread, somewhat similar to a scone and in British English it relates to a small and hard, often sweetened, flour-based product, most akin in American English to a cookie.
Early biscuits were hard, dry, and unsweetened. They were cheap – early biscuits were most often cooked after bread, in a cooling bakers oven; they were a cheap form of sustenance for the poor.
Biscuits today can be savoury or sweet, but most are small at around 2 inches (5.1 cm) in diameter, and flat. The term biscuit also applies to sandwich-type biscuits, wherein a layer of cream or icing is sandwiched between two biscuits, such as the Custard cream. European biscuits tend to be thinner, softer, and more sugary in consistency, and often more creative in design, whereas British biscuits tend to be harder and plainer, perhaps in deference to the country’s naval history.
Sweet biscuits are commonly eaten as a snack food and are, in general, made with wheat flour or oats, and sweetened with sugar or honey. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts, or even be used to sandwich other fillings.
In Britain, the digestive biscuit and rich tea have a strong cultural identity as the traditional accompaniment to a cup of tea, and are regularly eaten as such. Many tea drinkers “dunk” their biscuits in tea, allowing them to absorb liquid and soften slightly before consumption.
Savoury biscuits or crackers (such as cream crackers, water biscuits, oatcakes, or crisp breads) are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. There is also a large variety of savoury biscuits that contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as poppy seeds, onion or onion seeds, cheese (such as cheese melts), and olives.
You can find authentic Kosher Biscuits on many Kosher Restaurants in Los Angeles.
