Rusk County Academy

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 wheat-based food additive.

International variations

Argentina

In Argentina, rusk is called ''tostadas de mesa'' (literally "table toasts"), slices of twice-baked bread generally available in supermarkets in plain and sweetened variants. Cake rusk is called ''bay biscuit'', its ingredients are egg, sugar, oil, self-rising flour, and vanilla.

Azerbaijan

Rusk is called sukhary ( az, suxarı – a loanword from Russian via Persian) in Azerbaijani. It is usually made from stale bread and buns. In Baku, some bakeries use their stale buns and bread for making rusks. The price of rusk in those bakeries is usually low, as the bakeries do this to avoid wasting the leftover bread and buns.

Bangladesh

It is commonly called "toast biscuit". Toast biscuits come in a variety of flavours, such as "ghee toast", "garlic toast", and "sugar toast", and are usually served with tea. Cake rusk is commonly known as "dry cake."

Britain

Butcher rusk is a dry biscuit broken into particles, sorted by particle size and sold to butchers and others for use as a food additive in sausage manufacture. Though originally made from stale bread, now called "bread-rusk", a yeast-free variety called simply "rusk" is now more commonly used.

Various rusk particle sizes are used in the food industry, where uses include:
* A carrier for flavours, colours and seasonings
* A binding agent in hamburgers, sausages, stuffings, pies, and other compound meat products
* As an ingredient for dried stuffing mixes

Farley's Rusks

In the UK, Farley's Rusks are a dry teething biscuit dating from the 1880s, but manufactured by Heinz since 1994. They are usually given to infants, either soaked in milk and mashed up or in their original hard form as a teething aid.

Cuba

"Sponge rusk" is similar to biscotti but it is made out of twice-baked yellow cake batter. The yellow cake batter is baked into a flat, rectangular cake pan. After it is baked and cooled, it is sliced into strips and baked again or toasted to make cake toast. It is usually eaten with Cuban coffee (Cuban espresso) or as an accompaniment to ice cream, custard, or other dessert dishes.

Denmark

''Tvebak'' is derived from Dutch ''tweebak'' (literally "two bake"), an archaic synonym of ''beschuit''.

France

A ''biscotte'' is a French type of rusk. They are sold packaged in supermarkets.

Finland

A Finnish type of rusk is called '' korppu'', usually a dried piece of bun, flavoured with cinnamon and sugar. ''Korppu'' is a common coffee bread, normally eaten after having been dipped in coffee. A sour version, called ''hapankorppu'', is a flat rusk made from rye flour and salt, and can be eaten like crispbread.

Germany

''Zwieback'' (literally "twice baked") is a form of rusk in Germany. Like the Danish and French words, the name refers to being baked or cooked twice.

Greece

The term '' paximadi'' ( el, παξιμάδι) covers various forms of Greek rusk, commonly made from barley or chickpea flour, and softened with wine, water, or oil before eating. ''Paximadi'' form the basis of the Cretan snack '' dakos'' ( el, ντάκος).

India

In India rusk (or toast biscuit) is a traditional dried bread or cake. It is also known as papay, rattan, ''khasta'' ( Hindi: खस्ता), ''russ'' or "cake rusk" in Hindi, Punjabi or "porai" பொறை in Tamil and Urdu or ''kathi biskut'' in Bengali. It is usually eaten dipped in milk tea which softens the rusk. The sweet "cake rusk" version is made of cake whose ingredients include wheat flour, sugar, fat, leavening agent, and, optionally, eggs.

Indonesia

Double baked bread in Indonesia is called "bagelen", believed to originate from Bagelen, a village in Central Java. Before the second bake, the bread is smeared with sugar and buttercream. It is usually eaten as a snack.

Iran

In Iran, rusk is called ''nān-e sokhāri'' ( Persian: نان سوخاری). It is made from wheat flour, sugar, skimmed milk powder, vegetable oil, gluten, malt extract, soy flour, salt, yeast, and water. It is eaten as a dunking biscuit, particularly with Persian chai (tea). The most common brand of ''naan sukhaari'' is Vitana.

Italy

In Italy, this form is called fette biscottate. It should not be confused with ''biscotti'' (twice-baked cookies or biscuits).
Italians have cantucci, a double-baked almond rusk-like biscuit. What's more, while cantucci are just as firm and crunchy as the South African version, Italians insist that they are dipped and not dunked like rusks. The dipping, they maintain, is best done in cappuccino, dessert wine or grappa.

Japan

In Japan, rusk is often a delicacy made from baguette, cake or croissant. It is often sweet.

The Levant

In the Levant this form is called ''boksum'' ( Arabic: ) in Iraq and Syria or ''qurshalla'' (Arabic:قرشلة) in Jordan and the occupied Palestinian territory. It is made from flour, eggs, oil or butter, sugar, yeast or baking powder, and sometimes a small amount of cardamon. It is topped with roasted sesame seeds, black caraway seeds, or anise, and eaten as a dunking biscuit, especially with herbal tea.

Netherlands and Belgium (Flanders)

''Beschuit'', also known as Dutch crispbakes, are light, round, rather crumbly, rusks as eaten in the Netherlands and Belgium. When a baby is born in The Netherlands, it is customary to serve ''beschuit met muisjes'' (with "little mice", which are aniseeds covered in a white and pink or blue sugar layer, depending on the newborn's gender). ''Beschuiten'' are also eaten as a breakfast food with a variety of toppings, most commonly butter and sprinkles in flavours such as chocolate (''chocoladehagel'' or ''chocoladevlokken'') or fruit (''vruchtenhagel''), jam or cheese. A longtime Dutch favourite is to serve strawberries on ''beschuit'', which is usually topped with some sugar or whipped cream.

''Beschuiten'' are made by first baking a flat round bread (''beschuitbol''), slicing it in half, and then baking each half again, usually at a lower heat. It is almost always sold in rolls; a roll typically has 13 rusks (a baker's dozen). Etymologically, ''biscotto'' (16th-century Italian), biscuit (19th century, from 16th-century ''bisket'') and ''beschuit'' come from the Latin phrase ''(panis)'' ''bis-coctus'', (bread, twice cooked).

Norway

In Norway, rusk is referred to as ''kavring'', and is similar to the Swedish ''skorpor''. Crushed kavring, called ''strøkavring'', is used, amongst other things, for making ''kjøttkaker'' and in the traditional dessert ''tilslørte bondepiker''. Kavring is also broken up and can be served with regular, soured or cultured milk.

Pakistan

In Pakistan, Rusk is colloquially known as ''Russ'' ( Urdu: رس). It is either available as a spherical shape that is akin to a bun or as separate rectangular pieces. It is a popular breakfast food, and is usually eaten by dipping it into milk tea, locally known as doodh chai, to soften it. Cake rusk is called papay ( Shahmukhi: پاپے) in Punjabi.

Philippines

The Philippine version of rusk is called ''biscocho''. Cake rusks are called '' mamon tostado''.

Portugal

The Portuguese version of rusk is called ''tosta''. "Tosta" are a hard coarse-textured slice of bread – it can be sweet, but most often it is savory – and it can be of various shapes and thicknesses. It is often ground up and used as bread crumbs.

Russia

The Russian version is called ''sukhar' '' (Cyrillic: сухарь) from "сухой" – "dry". They are either baked a second time from sweet challah-like bread, sliced in biscotti fashion or made of leftover stale bread, cut into small cubes and air-dried or baked at a very low temperature. The first one is like a cookie, which can be served with milk, kefir, tea, coffee or cacao. The second one is usually added to soup, clear or otherwise, softening up from absorbed liquids and accompanying it instead of bread. It became a tradition to avoid wasting leftover bread that always was a staple in Russian cuisine. There is much folklore about bread in the Russian language, paying respect to this grain food that is one of the cornerstones of Slavic nations' life and history. Rye bread rusks are the major ingredient in making of the Russian Kvass, a traditional fermented beverage.

South Africa

Definition

Rusks is the anglicized term for ''beskuit'' and is a traditional Afrikaner breakfast meal or snack. They have been dried in South Africa since the late 1690s as a way of preserving bread, especially when traveling long distances without refrigeration. Their use continued through the Great Trek and the Boer Wars through to the modern day. Rusks are typically dunked in coffee or tea before being eaten.

Recipe

Rusks are essentially double-baked bread dough. Round balls of dough are closely packed in pans and baked like bread, after which long chunks are cut or broken off and slowly re-baked to a dry consistency. Several modern-day, mass-produced versions are available, the most famous brand being '' Ouma Rusks''. Many bakeries, delis, and home industries sell commercial rusks, sometimes made from non-traditional ingredients, such as baking powder rather than sourdough. In addition to plain and buttermilk flavours, aniseed, wholewheat, condensed milk, muesli, and lemon poppyseed variations are also available.

Sweden

'' Skorpor'' (plural; singular skorpa) are a Swedish form of rusk. They are usually unflavoured or flavoured with cardamom, but can also be flavoured with herbs, dried fruit, nuts, or spices such as anise. Swedish bakery company Pågen makes the world's most-sold rusk brand, Krisprolls. The traditional Swedish way to eat them is dipping them into a beverage such as coffee, milk or juice. You can also put butter and possibly cheese, marmalade or jam on top and eat them on the side of a beverage or a fruit soup.

Rusks are known in Sweden at least since the 16th century. Rusks were provisions in the military units and on ships. Back then they could also be crushed with a hammer and the crumbs ended up in svagdricka, beer and soup.

Turkey

In Turkish, rusk is called ''peksimet''. "Pek" stands for solid, tight, or durable in Turkish and "simet/simit" is an Arabic word �ميدmeaning bread, or flour. Another name is ''galeta'', a loanword from Catalan.

United States

In the US, commonly available types of rusk include melba toast and croutons, which are sold packaged in grocery stores, and biscotti, which is found both at grocery stores and coffee shops.

See also

* Milk toast, some modern store-bought forms of which strongly resemble rusks with slight flavouring and sweeteners.
* List of bread dishes

References

{{South African cuisine

Breads
Biscuits
South African cuisine
Dutch cuisine
Finnish cuisine
Twice-baked goods

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