Digestive biscuit facts for kids
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| Alternative names | Wheaten, sweet-meal biscuit |
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| Type | Biscuit |
| Place of origin | Scotland |
| Region or state | Forres |
| Main ingredients | Wheat flour, sugar, malt extract, butter (or in cheaper recipes or for vegans or those who are lactose intolerant: vegetable oil), wholemeal, leavening agents (usually sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid and malic acid), salt |
A digestive biscuit, sometimes described as a sweet-meal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit that originated in Scotland. The digestive was first developed in 1839 by two Scottish doctors to aid digestion. The term "digestive" is derived from the belief that they had antacid properties due to the use of sodium bicarbonate when they were first developed. Historically, some producers used diastatic malt extract to "digest" some of the starch that existed in flour prior to baking.
First manufactured in 1892, McVitie's digestive is the best-selling biscuit in the UK. In 2009, the digestive was ranked the fourth most popular biscuit for "dunking" into tea among the British public, with the chocolate digestive coming in at number one. The UK consumption of these biscuits is record breaking: with 6 million consumed each day, representing 70 each second.
Contents
History
In 1839, digestives were developed in the United Kingdom by two Scottish doctors to aid digestion. Digestives featured in advertisements for the Berkshire-based biscuit company Huntley & Palmers in 1876, with a recipe being given in Cassell's "New Universal Cookery Book" of 1894. In 1851 an issue of The Lancet London's advertising section offered brown meal digestive biscuits. At the time, it was asserted grain millers knew only of bran and endosperm. After 10% of the whole grain's coarser outer-bran coat was removed, and because the innermost 70% of pure endosperm was reserved for other uses, brown meal, representing only 20% of the whole grain, remained, consisting of about 15% fine bran and 85% white flour. By 1912 it was more widely known that brown meal included the germ, which lent a characteristic sweetness.
In 1889, John Montgomerie of Scotland filed a U.S. patent application, which was granted in 1890. This patent asserted a prior patent existed in England dated 1886. The U.S. patent, titled "Making Malted Bread", included instructions for the manufacture of digestive biscuits. Montgomerie claimed this saccharification process would make "nourishing food for people of weak digestion".
Despite rumours that it is illegal for them to be sold under their usual name in the United States, they are, in fact, widely available in imported food sections of grocery stores and by mail order.
Ingredients
The typical digestive biscuit contains coarse brown wheat flour (which gives it its distinctive texture and flavour), sugar, malt extract, vegetable oil, wholemeal, raising agents (usually sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid and malic acid) and salt. Dried whey, oatmeal, cultured skimmed milk and emulsifiers such as DATEM may also be added in some varieties.
A digestive biscuit averages around 70 calories, although this sometimes varies according to the factors involved in its production.
Consumption
Digestive biscuits are frequently eaten with milk, tea and coffee. Sometimes, the biscuit is dunked into the tea and eaten quickly due to the biscuit's tendency to disintegrate when wet. Digestive biscuits are one of the top 10 biscuits in the United Kingdom for dunking in tea. The digestive biscuit is also used as a cracker with cheeses, and is often included in "cracker selection" packets.
In the UK, McVitie's digestive is the best selling biscuit, with 80 million packs sold annually, though there are many other popular brands as well as supermarkets' own versions. Digestives are also popular in food preparation for making into bases for cheesecakes and similar desserts.
Chocolate digestives
Digestive biscuits which are coated on the bottom with milk, dark or white chocolate are also available. Originally produced by McVitie's in 1925 in the UK as the Chocolate Homewheat Digestive, other varieties include the basic biscuit with chocolate shavings throughout (chocolate "chips" in the biscuit mix), or a layer of caramel, mint chocolate, orange-flavoured chocolate, or plain chocolate. American travel writer Bill Bryson described the chocolate digestive as "a British masterpiece". In 2009, the McVitie's chocolate digestive was named as the most popular biscuit in the UK to dunk into tea.
In pop culture
McVitie's digestive biscuits have become known among fans of the rock group The Beatles because they were the cause of an argument between George Harrison and John Lennon during a recording session for the group's 1969 album Abbey Road. The incident was recounted by recording engineer Geoff Emerick in his book Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles. According to Emerick, Lennon's wife Yoko Ono was in the recording studio and at one point helped herself to Harrison's box of McVitie's while the Beatles were in the control room listening to a playback of the song they had just recorded. Harrison became angry at Ono, and his subsequent outburst caused Lennon to lose his temper in response.
Chocolate digestives were the technical challenge to the bakers in series 3, episode 8 of The Great British Bake Off. They were also the technical challenge to the bakers in episode 2, season 2 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.
Images for kids
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Plain digestive biscuits with tea, jam and cakes on a serving tray.
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See also
In Spanish: Galleta digestiva para niños
