Digestive biscuit
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A digestive biscuit, sometimes described as a sweet-meal biscuit, is a semi-sweet biscuit that originated in Scotland. The digestive was first developed in 1839 by two doctors to aid digestion. The term digestive is derived from the belief that they had antacid properties around the time the biscuit was first introduced due to the use of sodium bicarbonate as an ingredient.<ref name="mcvitie.brand.history">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Citation needed</ref> Historically, some producers used diastatic malt extract to "digest" some of the starch that existed in flour prior to baking.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
First manufactured by McVitie's in 1892 to a secret recipe developed by Sir Alexander Grant, their digestive is the best-selling biscuit in the United Kingdom.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2009, the digestive was ranked the fourth most popular biscuit for "dunking" into tea among the British public, with the chocolate digestive (produced by McVitie's since 1925) coming in at number one.<ref name="Telegraph"/> The chocolate variant from McVitie's is routinely ranked the UK's favourite snack.<ref name="Wales Online">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Mirror">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="YouGov">Template:Cite news</ref>
HistoryEdit
In 1839, digestives were developed in the United Kingdom by two Scottish doctors to aid digestion.<ref name="Telegraph" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In an 1851 issue of The Lancet, London's advertising section offered brown meal digestive biscuits.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> At the time, it was asserted that grain millers knew only of bran and endosperm.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> After 10% of the whole grain's coarser outer-bran coat was removed, and because the innermost 70% of pure endosperm was reserved for other uses, brown meal, representing only 20% of the whole grain, remained, consisting of about 15% fine bran and 85% white flour.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> By 1912, it was more widely known that brown meal included the germ, which lent a characteristic sweetness.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Digestives featured in advertisements for the Berkshire-based biscuit company Huntley & Palmers in 1876, with digestives sold by chemists alongside indigestion powder.<ref name="Grant">Template:Cite news</ref> Rival biscuit company, Edinburgh-based McVitie's, has Golden-baked their best-selling digestives to a secret recipe developed by Sir Alexander Grant since 1892.<ref name="Grant"/> A recipe was given in Cassell's New Universal Cookery Book of 1894. In 1889, John Montgomerie of Scotland filed a U.S. patent application, which was granted in 1890. This patent asserted a prior patent existed in England dated 1886. The U.S. patent, titled Making Malted Bread, included instructions for the manufacture of digestive biscuits. Montgomerie claimed this saccharification process would make "nourishing food for people of weak digestion".<ref>{{#if:423263
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|{{US patent|123456|link text}}}}</ref> Despite rumours that it is illegal for them to be sold under their usual name in the US,<ref>QI, Season B, Episode 7, "Biscuits", In America it is illegal to call them "digestives"</ref> they are, in fact, widely available in the imported food sections of grocery stores and by mail order.<ref>Cost Plus World Market: Product listing for retail and mail order availability in the United States</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation
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IngredientsEdit
The typical digestive biscuit contains coarse brown wheat flour (which gives it its distinctive texture and flavour), sugar, malt extract, vegetable oil, wholemeal, raising agents (usually sodium bicarbonate, tartaric acid and malic acid), and salt.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Some varieties also contain dried whey, oatmeal, cultured skimmed milk, and emulsifiers such as DATEM.
A digestive biscuit averages around 70 calories, although this varies according to the factors involved in its production.
ConsumptionEdit
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Digestive biscuits are frequently eaten with tea or coffee. Sometimes, the biscuit is dunked into the tea and eaten quickly due to the biscuit's tendency to disintegrate when wet. Digestive biscuits are one of the top 10 biscuits in the UK for dunking in tea.<ref name="Telegraph"/> The digestive biscuit is also used as a cracker with cheeses, and is often included in "cracker selection" packets.
In the UK, McVitie's digestive is the best selling biscuit, with 80 million packs sold annually,<ref name="mcvitie.brand.history" /> though there are many other popular brands (such as Cadbury’s) as well as supermarkets' own versions.<ref name="YouGov"/> Digestives are also popular in food preparation for making into bases for cheesecakes and similar desserts.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Chocolate digestivesEdit
Digestive biscuits with a chocolate coating on one side are also available. The coating can consist of dark, white, or milk chocolate, although white chocolate digestives are quite rare. The chocolate digestive was originally produced by McVitie's in 1925 as the Chocolate Homewheat Digestive. Other varieties include the basic biscuit with chocolate shavings throughout (chocolate "chips" in the biscuit mix) or a layer of caramel, mint chocolate, orange-flavoured chocolate,<ref>EnglishTeaStore.com: McVities Milk Chocolate & Orange Digestives 300g Accessed 5 January 2008</ref> or plain chocolate. They are manufactured at McVitie's Harlesden factory in London.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> American travel writer Bill Bryson described the chocolate digestive as "a British masterpiece".<ref>Bryson, Bill. (1996). Notes from a Small Island; William Morrow, Template:ISBN</ref>
In 2009, the McVitie's chocolate digestive was named as the most popular biscuit in the UK to dunk into tea.<ref name="Telegraph">"Chocolate digestive is nation's favourite dunking biscuit". The Telegraph. 2 May 2009</ref> The chocolate variant from McVitie's is routinely ranked the UK's favourite snack.<ref name="Wales Online"/><ref name="Mirror"/><ref name="YouGov"/> A YouGov poll saw Cadbury’s digestive ranked the second most popular biscuit in the UK after McVitie's.<ref name="YouGov"/>
In popular cultureEdit
McVitie's digestive biscuits have become known among fans of the Beatles because they were the cause of an argument between George Harrison and John Lennon during a recording session for the group's 1969 album Abbey Road. The incident was recounted by recording engineer Geoff Emerick in his book Here, There, and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles.<ref>Template:Cite book Gotham Books, Template:ISBN</ref> According to Emerick, Lennon's wife Yoko Ono was in the recording studio and at one point helped herself to Harrison's box of McVitie's while the Beatles were in the control room listening to a playback of the song they had just recorded. Harrison became angry at Ono, and his subsequent outburst caused Lennon to lose his temper in response.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Chocolate digestives were part of the technical challenge to the bakers in series 13, episode 6 of The Great British Bake Off. They were also the technical challenge to the bakers in episode 2, season 2 of The Great Canadian Baking Show.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>