On Saturday 29th May, the UK celebrates National Biscuit Day. It’s not a holiday or anything, we just stuff our faces with biscuits and justify it by saying that we are upholding the national tradition of stuffing our faces with biscuits on 29th May every year. Unfortunately, we don’t have an excuse for the other 364 days.

UK biscuits and American biscuits could not be more different. Americans have biscuits with gravy. We do biscuits with tea. And we put chocolate on them, and jam (jelly) in them.

The word biscuit comes from the French word ‘bescuit’, which is derived from the Latin words ‘bis’ (twice) and ‘coctus’ cooked; hence biscuit = cooked twice. Not to be confused with my cooking, which looks and smells like it’s been cooked twice!

The origin of the biscuit is that it was developed as a form of nutrition for sailors back in ancient times, where the moisture would be removed from a wheat biscuit to prolong its edibility. They were pretty tasteless but at least they didn’t give you the runs (again unlike my cooking!)

With the introduction of mass sugar production in the 18th Century, biscuits threw off their dull, colourless cloak and went flamboyant. Jacked up on the glucose rush, they re-invented themselves and smothered themselves with chocolate, cream and jams and we were hooked. They were the rock stars of their day. Celebrities, artists and revolutionaries all jumped on board, and biscuits such as Garibaldis, Bourbon and Che Guevarra’s Custard Cremes became popular.

In 2001, a biscuit taken from The Titanic before it sank fetched £3,525 (approximately $5000) at auction even though it was covered in mould. Having eaten the biscuit, the buyer then wrote the title track to the James Camerons film of the same name, and the song ‘My Heart Will Go On’ went on to be a worldwide hit. At least I think that’s what she's singing.

Today, biscuits take on many forms, and here at The Queens Pantry, we have over 80 different varieties in stock. Perfect with a cup of Yorkshire Tea, also available at The Queens Pantry, as a sweet snack with friends, or, even better, in a dark corner, out of the way of prying eyes where no-one can keep count of how many you’ve eaten.**

** Disclaimer - If your biscuit consumption is becoming unmanageable, call us on 678 482 0900 and we can put you in touch with your nearest gymnasium!!!