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RICHMOND LIT FEST
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Lizzie Collingham
The Biscuit 

Sunday 8 November – 3pm

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Event Hosted Online
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£6
BOOK HERE
The first biscuits were simply dried bread used to tide people over in periods of scarcity and hardship. For centuries they were the staple food of soldiers & sailors –a humble yet essential fuel for oceanic long-distance trade and indispensable in empire building.

Medieval Islamic confectioners transformed the biscuit from a store room staple into a decadent indulgence by adding sugar and when Arab invaders brought sweet biscuits to Europe they were thought of as both a remedy for ‘windy colic’ as well as a luxurious treat.

During the Industrial Revolution biscuits began to be mass produced in Britain, initially as a superior product for the discerning genteel customer. It was not until after the Second World War that Digestives, Jammie Dodgers and Bourbons became comfort food for the entire nation.

​Join Lizzie Collingham as she traces the origins of the Fig Roll to medieval Baghdad and explains the naming of the Garibaldi – guaranteed to make you reach for the biscuit tin.



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