Rusk and chai go together like peanut butter and jelly. If you enjoy tea, you will undoubtedly agree with this. Each time you dip that rusk into your cup of tea and take that first bite, there's a certain happiness that comes over you. However, rusk, or toast as it is known locally, is not just loved in India.
Rusk is a dry biscuit that, when eaten raw, is extremely crunchy and difficult to chew. This is a bread that is rectangular in shape, baked twice, and typically enjoyed by dipping it in tea. It has Greek origins and dates back to the 7th century.
Rusk Around The World
The following are the different types of rusk around the world:
Kritiko Paximadi, Greece
Kritiko paximadi, also called the Cretan biscuit, is a bread product prepared with a blend of barley, wheat, and oat flour or wholemeal barley flour. Paximadi's roots may be found in the past, when farmers, shepherds, and Cretan sailors relied mostly on barley rusks.
Since these rusks are double-baked and kept fresh for extended periods of time, paximadi became the go-to bread for households unable to prepare bread on a regular basis. The cornerstone of the Greek and Mediterranean diets is still kritikos paximadi, which is typically softened with water, wine, or olive oil before eating.
Frisele, Italy
The classic Italian rusk known as frisele or frise comes from Puglia. Sea salt, yeast, water, plain flour, and semolina flour are all combined to make it. The rusks' shelf life is significantly increased by twice baking. They were perfect for field workers or fishermen who went out to sea in the past.
Frisele are typically dipped in spring or saltwater before being served. The rusks are called Frisele Salentina, a speciality of Salento, if fresh tomatoes are placed on top.
Korppu, Finland
The easiest way to explain this classic Finnish treat is as a crispy, twice-baked bread. Typically, it's made with sweet pulla bread scented with cardamom or with different kinds of bread rolls. Although there are wide savoury and sweet varieties of korppu, it is typically baked till crispy after being thinly sliced and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Sweet varieties are frequently consumed with tea or coffee.
Biscotti Del Lagaccio, Italy
Biscotti del Lagaccio, which fall midway between a cookie and a rusk, get their name from a neighbourhood in Genoa where they are said to have originated in 1593. They were originally only wheat, butter, yeast, and sugar-based double-baked cookies, but over time, the basic recipe was altered to include wild fennel seeds and a small amount of anise liqueur, which gave them their distinctive flavour. Perfect for breakfast or an afternoon snack, biscotti del Lagaccio are delicately sweet and go well with tea or a cup of coffee.
Paški Baškotin, Croatia
The St. Margarita monastery on the island of Pag is home to the Benedictine sisters, who make paški baškotin, a delicious rusk from Croatia. It has been produced for over three centuries. Since 1540, the nuns have been baking a variety of cakes, pastries, and baškotin using their first oven.
The baškotin recipe is kept under wraps. These days, the nuns bake around thirty kilograms of baškotin every day, but as everything is done by hand, they are unable to produce much more. Traditionally, visitors were served baškotin with chicory coffee on the side due to the scarcity and high cost of regular coffee.
Karlovarsky Suchar, Czech Republic
The Czech Republic's Karlovy Vary area produces the rusk known as Karlovarský suchar, which is toasted bread sliced into thin pieces from a complete loaf. The bread is available in two varieties: special and diet. The bread is clean, crisp, and evenly porous and has been cooked and dried to perfection.
It smells faintly like baked foods and has a golden brown colour. It tastes like freshly made bread. Karlovy Vary spring water is a necessity for both kinds of bread. The ingredients for the unique variant include wheat flour, egg yolk, sugar, yeast, spring water, and flour improver.
Dorset Knob, England
The term "Dorset knob" comes from the classic English rusk or biscuit that originated in Dorset. Since the late 1800s, Moore's firm has been baking these rusks. It is said that the original recipe called for bread dough leftovers, butter, and sugar, and that the mixture was cooked in a warm oven after the bread was taken out.
It's said that the dough consists of sugar, flour, yeast, water, and fat. However, the precise formula is now kept a trade secret. The rusks are flipped over during baking at a high temperature. When finished, they ought to be crumbly and firm. Dorset knobs can be eaten with butter and cheese, although they're commonly dipped in tea to soften them.