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Anzac biscuit
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anzac biscuits are a snack food most commonly made primarily from rolled oats, coconut, and golden syrup. Basically, they are a re-named version of the time-honoured "Rolled oats biscuit".
Many myths have grown around the Anzac biscuit. It has been reported that they were made by Australian and New Zealand women for the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) soldiers of World War I and were reputedly first called "Soldiers' Biscuits" and then "Anzac Biscuits" after the Gallipoli landing. The recipe was reportedly created to ensure the biscuits would keep well during naval transportation to loved ones who were fighting abroad. However, those were shaped like rock cakes and were made of entirely different ingredients.
Research carried out by Professor Helen Leach, a culinary anthropologist at Otago University in New Zealand, revealed that the first time the name "Anzac" appeared in the name for a biscuit in a recipe book was not until 1921. That occurred in the renaming of the "Oatmeal biscuit" recipe to "Anzac crispies", in the ninth edition of the St Andrew's Cookery Book. Subsequent editions renamed it as "Anzac biscuit".
Exactly the same recipe was included in contemporary recipe books as "Rolled Oats Biscuits", (and none of them included coconut which did not appear until 1927). The Oatmeal or Rolled Oats biscuits were developed in the Scottish-influenced city of Dunedin as a variation of Scottish oat cakes.
Today the biscuits are manufactured commercially for retail sale. Because of their military connection with the ANZACs and ANZAC Day, the biscuits are often used as a fundraising item for the RSA and the RSL veterans organisations. Biscuits made using the traditional recipe are also carried by bushbashers (bush walkers) as a food of last resort; their tough constitution and good keeping properties enabling them to survive many days of rough travel.
The term ANZAC is protected under Australian law [1] and therefore the word should not be used without permission from the RSL, and its misuse can be legally enforced, particularly for commercial purposes. There is a general exemption granted for Anzac biscuits, as long as they remain basically true to the original recipe and are sold and referred to as Anzac biscuits and never as cookies.
Anzac biscuits can still be found in Australian CR1M ration packs.
