This article may lack focus or may be about more than one topic. May 2016 Biscuit is a term used for a variety of primarily baked food products. The term is applied to two distinct products in and the and. The North American biscuit is typically a soft, leavened , and is covered in the article. This article covers the other type of biscuit, which is typically hard, flat and unleavened. Biscuits in the , the and are hard and may be savoury or sweet, such as biscuits, , , , , , and. Leavening is achieved through the use of or, when using buttermilk,. She writes, It is interesting that these soft biscuits such as scones are common to and , and that the term biscuit as applied to a soft product was retained in these places, and in America, whereas in England it has completely died out. This is because biscuits were originally cooked in a twofold process: first baked, and then dried out in a slow oven. This term was then adapted into English in the 14th century during the , in the word bisquite, to represent a hard, twice-baked product. The words cookie or cracker became the words of choice to mean a hard, baked product. Further confusion has been added by the adoption of the word biscuit for a small leavened bread popular in the United States. In a number of other European languages, terms derived from the latin bis coctus refer instead to yet another baked product, similar to the ; e. Spanish bizcocho, German Biskuitmasse, Russian бисквит biskvit , Polish biszkopt. In modern Italian usage, the term biscotto is used to refer to any type of hard twice-baked biscuit, and not only to the as in English-speaking countries. However, this took up additional space on what were either horse-powered treks or small ships, reducing the time of travel before additional food was required. This resulted in early armies' adopting the style of hunter-. The introduction of the of processed cereals including the creation of flour provided a more reliable source of food. When it had dried and hardened, it was cut up and then fried until crisp, then served with honey and pepper. Hence, for both sustenance and avoidance of illness, a daily consumption of a biscuit was considered good for health. Hard biscuits soften as they age. To solve this problem, early bakers attempted to create the hardest biscuit possible. Because it is so hard and dry, if properly stored and transported, navies' will survive rough handling and high temperature. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two. To soften hardtack for eating, it was often dunked in , coffee, or some other liquid or into a skillet meal. At the time of the in 1588, the daily allowance on board a ship was one pound of biscuit plus one gallon of beer. Royal Navy hardtack during 's reign was made by machine at the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard at , Hampshire, stamped with the Queen's mark and the number of the oven in which they were baked. Biscuits remained an important part of the Royal Navy sailor's diet until the introduction of. Canned meat was first marketed in 1814; preserved beef in tins was officially added to rations in 1847. Confectionery biscuits Traditional Polish Early biscuits were hard, dry, and unsweetened. They were most often cooked after bread, in a cooling bakers' oven; they were a cheap form of sustenance for the poor. By the seventh century AD, cooks of the had learnt from their forebears the techniques of lightening and enriching bread-based mixtures with eggs, butter, and cream, and sweetening them with fruit and honey. He left Nicopolis Pompeii, of to live in , France, near the town of. He stayed there for seven years and taught French priests and Christians how to cook gingerbread. This was originally a dense, molasses-based spice cake or bread. As it was so expensive to make, early were a cheap form of using up the leftover bread mix. The milk chocolate coated side of a With the combination of the Muslim , and then the developing the , the cooking techniques and ingredients of Arabia spread into Northern Europe. By times, biscuits were made from a sweetened, spiced paste of breadcrumbs and then baked e. As the making and quality of bread had been controlled to this point, so were the skills of biscuit-making through the. As the supply of sugar began, and the refinement and supply of flour increased, so did the ability to sample more leisurely foodstuffs, including sweet biscuits. Early references from the show how the Swedish were baking gingerbread to ease digestion in 1444. The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits dates to the 16th century, where they were sold in monastery pharmacies and town square farmers markets. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century. The British biscuit firms of , , , and were all established by 1850. Along with local farm produce of meat and cheese, many regions of the world have their own distinct style of biscuit due to the historic prominence of this form of food. Varieties may contain chocolate, fruit, jam, nuts, ginger, or even be used to sandwich other fillings. The and have a strong identity in as the traditional accompaniment to a cup of tea and are regularly eaten as such. A dark chocolate Savoury biscuits or crackers such as , , , or are usually plainer and commonly eaten with cheese following a meal. Many savoury biscuits also contain additional ingredients for flavour or texture, such as , onion or onion seeds, cheese such as cheese melts , and olives. Savoury biscuits also usually have a dedicated section in most European supermarkets, often in the same aisle as sweet biscuits. Savoury biscuits sold in supermarkets are sometimes associated with a certain geographical area, such as Scottish oatcakes or Cornish wafer biscuits. North America In the United States and parts of a biscuit is a small with a firm browned crust and a soft interior. These biscuits are particularly popular in the American South, where generations have passed down family recipes. They are made with baking powder or as a rather than a quick bread although they can also be made using yeast and are then called angel biscuits or a. They are traditionally served as a side dish with a meal. As a breakfast item they are often eaten with and a sweet condiment such as , light sugarcane syrup, maple syrup, , , or fruit or. With other meals, they are usually eaten with butter or gravy instead of sweet condiments. However, biscuits covered in or biscuits with sausage are usually served for breakfast, sometimes as the main course. In Scotland the usual name for a baker's plain bun; in U. 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