Bake biscuits like Luxembourg's Spanish biscuit baker in the 17th century

Today, most English speakers use the French term Biscuit or the Italian term Biscotti to identify this wonderful thing we dip in a cup of tea or cappuccino.

An interesting document has come to light. It seems that Luxembourg did not import Spanish Biscóchs. When Nicolas Muhler died in the year 1640AD an inventory was taken of his merchantable goods.

It appears that Muhler improvised and turned the Spanish Biscóchs into something the locals would enjoy… a Luxembourgish style 'Spanisch bißguet'. It seems to have been popular. Muhler's inventory lists a whole cartload of Spanisch bißguet plus a small cartload of bißguet.

A brief history

The book, A New Dictionary Spanish and English and English and Spanish, by the Spaniard Pedro Pineda (1740) gives us the following definitions: Biscóchs, Bizcocho, Biscuit. Latin Bis [twice] coctus [baked], or double baked.

Twice baking this flour-based dough was a way of preserving bread.

Two main types of Biscóchs spread around the world during the 16th century. The first is a Spanish Biscóchs that was dry and without sugar and used on ships to feed sailors. The second Biscóchs was a long-lasting but not as dry biscuit that also had sugar plus other wonderful ingredients.

Rebuilding a recipe from scratch:

We don't know Muhler's recipe. However, we know that certain ingredients were different back then. One great resource is the book, Rapport general sur l'état de l'agriculture dans le Grand-Duché de 1839 à 1889, by Eug Fischer (1891). It explained that throughout the 19th Century Luxembourg produced and used Dinkel, the German word for spelt. This is very interesting because it means that Luxembourg had not yet adopted 19th-Century industrialized wheat, yet!

We also know that Luxembourg was making their butter from unsalted butter creme, unlike French butter produced near Longwy which made salted butter at this time. Dinkel and unsalted butter are two historically accurate ingredients for Luxembourg. So, we will use these.

How to make butter biscuits:

Modern flours such as 'all-purpose flour' or 'pastry flour' are designed to be easier to work with in different types of humid weather. Dinkel is an old flour but it is not difficult to work with. Dinkel can be used like modern whole wheat flour. You can substitute 1:1 (e.g. 1 gramme of dinkel for 1 gramme of modern whole wheat).

However, for recipes that call for all-purpose flour, it might be best to only substitute 1/3rd of the volume with dinkel. Do not use modern pastry flour or fine French flour because it didn't exist in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Ingredients and amounts:

• 125 gr butter (1/2 cup unsalted)
• 125 gr sugar (1/2 cup)
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 5 egg yolks at room temperature
• 280 gr plain flour (2 1/4 cups)

You can substitute 3/4th cup dinkel and 1 and 1/2 cup all-purpose flour.

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven to 170 deg. C (338 deg. F). You can wait to do this because it only takes 10 minutes to bake one tray of cookies.

2) Second, leave the butter in the refrigerator until after you have prepared all the other ingredients. You don’t want butter to get warm in a hot kitchen or hot day.

3) Place all the dry ingredients in a large bowl; wheat flour (or dinkel), sugar, lemon peel, and salt. Mix them with a fork.

4) Now, take the cold butter and cut it into slices. Size is not important. Distribute the pieces across the top of the dry mixture. Also, add the eggs yokes.

5) Begin mixing. When the butter is very cold I often use a fork to mash them up, and blend into the dry mixture. Once the butter changes from cold to cool, time becomes important. You can use your hands to mix in the butter. I often press the flour-covered butter between my fingers to break it up. Keep going you can do this!

6) Once it is mixed, stop, do not knead the dough. Wrap the dough in an airtight plastic wrap or an environmentally friendly alternative and refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

7) You can prepare the baking tray with first butter and second flour… or use a non-stick baking tray. I don’t usually use cooky cutters. Instead, I use a spoon to scoop dough into a constant size, flatten it into little discs, and place them on the tray. Once done you are all set to bake!

Buen provecho!