Abernethy biscuit


The Abernethy biscuit was invented by doctor John Abernethy in the 18th century as a digestive improver and hence aid to health.
Abernethy believed that most diseases were due to disorders in digestion. The Abernethy biscuit is a type of digestive biscuit, a baked good originally designed to be eaten as a support to proper digestion. In creating his biscuit, Abernethy was following a trend of other medical practitioners like English William Oliver of Bath, Somerset and the American preacher Sylvester Graham who was a nutrition expert.
The Abernethy biscuit is an adaptation of the plain captain's biscuit or hardtack, with the added ingredients of sugar, and caraway seeds because of their reputation for having a carminative effect making them beneficial in digestive disorders. The biscuit is a mix between an all butter biscuit and a shortcake, raising through use of ammonium bicarbonate. According to The Oxford Companion to Food, a baker at a shop where Abernethy regularly had lunch created the new biscuit when Abernethy suggested it, naming it after him.
Abernethy biscuits are still popular in Scotland. They are manufactured commercially by Simmers, Browns Bakery, Walls Bakeries, and by Stag Bakeries.

Sample ingredient list

The following are ingredients:
When British statesman William Gladstone was Vice-President of the Board of Trade in the 1840s, his only luncheon consisted of an Abernethy biscuit, brought to him by his wife.
In the libretto of the comic opera Princess Toto written by W. S. Gilbert the king disguises himself as an Abernethy Biscuit.
In Charles Dickens' first novel The Pickwick Papers, the character of Mr. Solomon Pell is found, "in court, regaling himself,...., with a cold collation of an Abernethy biscuit and a saveloy".