Biscuit (bread)

A biscuit in the United States and parts of Canada, and widely used in popular American English, is a small baked good with a firm browned crust and a soft interior. They are made with baking powder or baking soda as a chemical leavening agent rather than yeast. They are similar to British scones or the bannock from the Shetland Isles.

Biscuits, soda breads, and cornbread, among others, are often referred to collectively as "quick breads," to indicate that they do not need time to rise before baking.

History

Earlier history

Although the American English and British English use the same word to refer to two distinctly different modern foods, early hard biscuits (North American: cookies), were derived from or as a storable version of bread.

The definitive explanation for these differences in usage is provided by Elizabeth David in English Bread and Yeast Cookery, in the chapter "Yeast Buns and Small Tea Cakes" and section "Soft Biscuits". She writes,

Early European settlers in the United States brought with them a simple, easy style of cooking, most often based on ground wheat and warmed with gravy.

Biscuit

Biscuit is a term used for a variety of baked, commonly flour-based food products. The term is applied to two distinct products in North America and the Commonwealth of Nations and Europe. For a list of varieties, see the list of biscuits and cookies.

Variations in meaning

Biscuit (pottery)

Biscuit, refers to pottery that has been fired but not yet glazed. Biscuit is any pottery after the first firing and before any glaze is applied. This can be a final product such as bisque porcelain, or terracotta, or, most commonly, an intermediary stage in a glazed final product.

The porous nature of biscuit earthenware means that it readily absorbs water, while vitreous ware and bone china are almost non-porous even without glazing. The temperature of biscuit firing is usually at least 1000°C, although higher temperatures are common. The firing of the ware that results in the biscuit article causes permanent chemical and physical changes to occur. These result in a much harder and more resilient article which can still be porous, and this can ease the application of glazes.

References

Media related to Biscuit porcelain at Wikimedia Commons

Biscuit joiner

A biscuit joiner (or sometimes plate joiner) is a woodworking tool used to join two pieces of wood together. A biscuit joiner uses a small circular saw blade to cut a crescent-shaped hole (called the mouth) in the opposite edges of two pieces of wood or wood composite panels. An oval-shaped, highly dried and compressed wooden biscuit (beech or particle wood) is covered with glue, or glue is applied in the slot. The biscuit is immediately placed in the slot, and the two boards are clamped together. The wet glue expands the biscuit, further improving the bond.

History

The biscuit joining system was invented in 1956 in Liestal, Switzerland by Hermann Steiner. Steiner opened his carpenter's shop in 1944, and, in the middle of the 1950s, while looking for a simple means of joining the recently introduced chipboard, invented (almost by accident) the now world-famous Lamello joining system. In the succeeding years there followed further developments such as the circular saw and the first stationary biscuit (plate) joining machine in 1956 followed by the first portable biscuit joiner for Lamello grooves in 1968. In 1969 the family operation was incorporated by the name of Lamello AG. Lamello continues to manufacture very high-end biscuit joiners such as the Lamello Top 20.

Bread

Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history it has been popular around the world and is one of the oldest artificial foods, having been of importance since the dawn of agriculture.

There are many combinations and proportions of types of flour and other ingredients, and also of different traditional recipes and modes of preparation of bread. As a result, there are wide varieties of types, shapes, sizes, and textures of breads in various regions. Bread may be leavened by many different processes ranging from the use of naturally occurring microbes (for example in sourdough recipes) to high-pressure artificial aeration methods during preparation or baking. However, some products are left unleavened, either for preference, or for traditional or religious reasons. Many non-cereal ingredients may be included, ranging from fruits and nuts to various fats. Commercial bread in particular, commonly contains additives, some of them non-nutritional, to improve flavor, texture, color, shelf life, or ease of manufacturing.

Bread (1924 film)

Bread is a 1924 American drama film directed by Victor Schertzinger. The film stars Mae Busch.

Cast

External links

Bread (band)

Bread was an American soft rock band from Los Angeles, California. They placed 13 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart between 1970 and 1977 and were an example of what later was labeled as soft rock.

The band consisted of David Gates (vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, violin, viola, percussion), Jimmy Griffin (vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion), Robb Royer (bass, guitar, flute, keyboards, percussion, recorder, backing vocals), Mike Botts (drums, percussion; joined in the summer of 1969) and Larry Knechtel (keyboards, bass, guitar, harmonica; replaced Royer in 1971).

Beginnings and fame

Before forming Bread, Gates had worked with Royer's previous band, The Pleasure Fair, producing and arranging the band's 1967 album, The Pleasure Fair. Royer then introduced Gates to his songwriting partner, Griffin, and the trio joined together in 1968 and signed with Elektra Records in January 1969, after choosing the name "Bread" in late 1968, supposedly after getting stuck in traffic behind a Wonder Bread truck. The group's first single, "Dismal Day", was released in June 1969 but did not chart. Their debut album, Bread, was released in September 1969 and peaked at No. 127 on the Billboard 200. Songwriting on the album was split evenly between Gates and the team of Griffin-Royer. Jim Gordon, a session musician, accompanied the band on drums for the album.