Write short notes about biscuits in Hindi
Answers
Biscuit is a term used for a variety of primarilyflour-based baked food products. The term is applied to two distinct products in North America and the Commonwealth of Nationsand Europe. The North American biscuit is typically a soft, leavened quick bread, and is covered in the article Biscuit (bread). This article covers the other type of biscuit, which is typically hard, flat and unleavened.
American biscuit (left) and one variety of British biscuit (right) – the American biscuit is soft and flaky like a scone; whereas British biscuits are drier and often crunchy.
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Explanation:
BISCUITS
BISCUITS. The word "biscuit" is derived from the Latin panis biscoctus, "twice-baked bread." From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, forms of the word included besquite and bisket. Similar forms are noted in many European languages. "Biscuit" covers a wide range of flour baked products, though it is generally an unleavened cake or bread, crisp and dry in nature, and in a small, thin, and flat shape. It has a number of cultural meanings. In the United States, a biscuit is a soft, thick scone product or a small roll similar to a muffin. The British biscuit is equivalent to the American cookie and cracker. These latter terms are relatively modern. "Cookie" comes from the eighteenth-century Dutch word koekje, a diminutive of koek (cake). "Cracker" is a North American term that also came into use in the eighteenth century, connoting the sound of the wafer as it was chewed or broken (at this time, "cracker" was also used to mean a firecracker or a noisy person or object).
Biscuits have evolved from different aspects of baking practices such as tarts, pastries, short cakes, and sugar confectionery. They have given rise to the wafer, macaroon, cracker, sandwich, snap, gingerbread, honey cake, rusk, and water biscuit. Some, like the wafer, were baked in the Middle Ages; others are of more recent origin, such as the "fancy biscuit," an early-nineteenth-century invention of British bakers that led to the development of a biscuit industry, which was later exported throughout the world. Biscuits are divided into two main groups. The first are plain or have a savory flavoring. The second type are sweet or semi-sweet in character.
Biscuits are made from a number of ingredients. Flour is the most basic and important. Different types give a range of textures and crispness. Wholemeal wheat flour is used in the "digestive," "sweetmeal," or "wheat-meal" type of biscuits. Oatmeal forms the basis of oatmeal biscuits. Rice flour and corn flour add flavor. Fats give the biscuits their "shortness." Butter and lard are the main fats, though these are augmented by vegetable and other refined fats. For fancy biscuits, sugar is an important ingredient, and introduces a range of tastes. It is added in several forms: processed as caster and Demerara sugars, syrups, honey, and malt extract. These have a range of consistencies and may help to bind together other ingredients. Aerating and raising ingredients, such as baking powder (bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid), make the biscuit light. Flavorings are also added. These include dried fruit, nuts, chocolate (powder or chips), spices, herbs, and flavoring essences such as vanilla. The dry ingredients are bound together with eggs and milk (fresh, condensed, or dried) or water. Biscuits have a high energy content, ranging from 420 to 510 kcal per 100 g.
The mechanized process of biscuit-making is rapid and continuous. The ingredients are mixed into a dough that is then kneaded and rolled to a uniform thickness. Biscuit shapes are cut from it, and placed in a traveling oven. Some biscuits require special preparation and cooking techniques. Biscuit-making has become increasingly and highly mechanized since the early nineteenth century, when technological aids were limited and it was highly labor-intensive. They can be baked commercially or in the home.
Most biscuits are distinguished by their appearance: round, square, oblong, finger-shaped, or fancifully impressed with designs. Plain biscuits are normally punched with a cutter or docker, to increase crispness during baking. Fancy biscuits can be covered with sugar, icing, or coated (fully or partially) with chocolate. Each type of biscuit also has its own commercial name, which refers to ingredients, a designation (sandwich, wafer, macaroon, or cracker), texture, eating qualities, and the time when it was to be eaten. The range of biscuits has increased over the past 150 years. Huntley & Palmers, of Reading, England, a world leader in biscuit production, sold around 130 varieties in 1870; by 1898, this increased to over four hundred. Some became well established and have a long history. For example, the "Abernethy biscuit," a proprietary biscuit based on the captain biscuit, was devised by Dr. John Abernethy (1764–1831), chief surgeon at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, London. Some biscuits have been eaten in large quantities. The Digestive (or Wholemeal) and Rich Tea became market leaders in Britain from 1949 onward. Other sorts fell out of favor, but new varieties are being continually developed as a result of consumer demand, changing tastes, and innovations in production techniques. Chocolate-coated biscuits started to become popular in the first decade of the twentieth century.