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What can possibly make a cream cracker taste better? Dunk it in a cup of tea, we say. Come to think of it, the pleasure of dipping a biscuit into your cuppa is actually an arcane art form that can be learnt in a moment but would take you years to master it. With subtle nuances and carefully calculated moves, you can enhance the taste of any baked goody simply by plunging it into a hot beverage. For many of us, it’s an act of happiness and fulfilment that we unwittingly practise every day, counting it among the small joys of life.
But there’s more to this than meets the eye. Over centuries, dunking has had numerous cultural references that are quirky as much as they are interesting. ‘Tea sucking’ is the name given to the practice of dunking in Australia. Britons, on the other hand, took things a notch higher when they went ahead and got a special day assigned to it - ‘National Biscuit Dunking Day’. Cut to the origin of dunking, it is believed that in ancient Rome, people used to dip hard unleavened wafers in wine in order to moisten it a bit.
Pexels; coffee with a cookie
Following a study in 2012, Michelin-star English restaurateur Heston Blumenthal declared that dunking chocolate biscuits into tea can improve their taste. More recently, Suzy Garraghan - a leading tea taster with Yorkshire Tea in the UK - said that Ginger Nut, Digestives and Tim Tam are the best biscuits for dunking in tea.
Whatever the reason, dunking biscuits into tea is an experience that brings unparalleled joy.
