A Dorset knob is a hard dry savoury

biscuit A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...

which is now produced by only a single producer - Moores Biscuits of Bridport, Dorset, England - for a limited time of the year.

Description

Dorset knobs are made from bread dough which contains extra sugar and butter. They are rolled and shaped by hand, and baked three times. Once cooked, they are very crumbly and rather like very dry

stale bread Staling, or "going stale", is a chemical and physical process in bread and similar foods that reduces their palatability - stale bread is dry and hard. Mechanism and effects Staling is not simply a drying-out process due to evaporation. One ...

rusk A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...

s in consistency. They are named after their shape's resemblance to Dorset knob buttons, but have also been compared, in size, to

door knob A door handle or doorknob is a handle used to open or close a door. Door handles can be found on all types of doors including exterior doors of residential and commercial buildings, internal doors, cupboard doors and vehicle doors. There are many ...

s. Dorset knobs are typically eaten with cheese (for example, Dorset Blue Vinney). Dorset knobs were said by his parlour maid to have been a favourite food of local author

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

. As they are so hard, they are also eaten by first soaking them in sweet tea.

History

In the past there were a number of producers of Dorset knobs. Today the only firm to produce them commercially is Moores Biscuits, which used to be sited in Morcombelake, four miles west of

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and withi ...

in the west of the county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, but has now moved into Bridport itself. The Moores family have baked biscuits in Dorset since before 1860. The bakery was established in 1880 by Samuel Moores and manufactures a variety of traditional biscuits in addition to the Dorset knob. Dorset knobs are only produced during the months of January and February. They are normally sold in a distinctive and traditional tin.

Dorset knob throwing

The practice of Dorset knob throwing began in 2008 at a festival in the Dorset village of

Cattistock Cattistock is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, sited in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley, northwest of the county town Dorchester. The Dorset poet William Barnes called it "elbow-streeted Cattstock", a comment on the l ...

, inspired by a

Yorkshire pudding Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water. A common British side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying compone ...

throwing game that the organiser had seen on television. The competition is now held every year on the first Sunday in May. The record throw of was set in 2019. Other events at the festival included a knob and spoon race, knob darts, knob painting and guess the weight of the knob. In 2017, the Dorset knob-throwing competition moved from Cattistock to

Kingston Maurward House Kingston Maurward House is a large Grade I listed Georgian English country house set in a 750-acre (3 square km) estate in Dorset situated in the Frome valley two miles east of Dorchester. History There has been a manor house at Kingston sin ...

but was cancelled in 2018, the plan being to make it a biennial event from 2019. It was announced that the event would return to Cattistock in May 2022, however, in January 2022 it was announced that it had again been cancelled.

References

External links

Moores Biscuits

Dorset knob throwing website
Biscuits Knob {{food-product-stub