 | This article contains overly lengthy quotations .(October 2022) |
A dog biscuit is a hard, biscuit-based, dietary supplement for dogs or other canines, similar to human snack food.
Dog biscuits tend to be hard and dry, often sold in a flat bone-shape. The dry and hard biscuit texture helps clean the dog's teeth, promoting oral health.
"Dog's bread", made from bran, has been mentioned since at least Roman times. [1] It was already criticized (as in later centuries) as particularly bad bread; Juvenal refers to dog's bread as "filth" - "And bit into the filth of a dog's bread" Et farris sordes mordere Canini. [2]
In Spain, "pan de perro" is mentioned as early as 1623 in a play by Lope de Vega. [3] It is used here in the sense of giving someone blows; to "give dog's bread" to someone could mean anything from mistreating them to killing them. [4] The latter meaning refers to a special bread (also called zarazas) made with ground glass, poison and needles and intended to kill dogs. [5]
The bread meant as food for dogs was also called parruna [6] and was made from bran. [7] This was very likely what was referred to in associating the bread with (non-fatal) mistreatment.
In France, Charles Estienne wrote in 1598: "Take no notice of bran bread,... it is better to leave it for the hunting, or shepherd, or watch dogs." [8] By the nineteenth century, "pain de chien" had become a way of referring to very bad bread: "It is awful, general, they give us dog's bread!" [9]
The English dog biscuit appears to be a nineteenth-century innovation: "With this may be joined farinaceous and vegetable articles — oat-meal, fine-pollard, dog-biscuit, potatoes, carrots, parsnips" (1827); [10] "being in the neighbourhood of Maidenhead, I inspected Mr. Smith's dog-biscuit manufactory, and was surprised to find he has been for a long period manufacturing the enormous quantity of five tons a-week !" (1828) [11]
In the south of England it is much the fashion to give sporting-dogs a food called dog-biscuit instead of barley-meal, and the consequences resulting from this simple aliment are most gratifying. Barley-meal, indeed, is an unnatural food, unless it be varied with bones, for a dog delights to gnaw, and thus to exercise those potent teeth with which nature has furnished him ; his stomach, too, is. designed to digest the hard and tough integument of animal substance; hence, barleymeal, as a principal portion of his subsistence, is by no means to be desired. In small private families it is not always possible to obtain a sufficiency of meat and bones for the sustenance of a dog, and recourse is too frequently had to a coarse and filthy aliment, which is highly objectionable, especially if the creature be debarred from taking daily exercise, fettered by a chain, and restricted, by situation, from obtaining access to grass ; and no one who has not watched the habits of our faithful allies (as we have done), can be aware of the absolute necessity which exists for his obtaining a constant supply of it. If no other good effect resulted from it than the sleekness of his coat and clearness of his skin, these benefits ought to the procured for him; but when his health and comfort are to be also ensured, who, that has a grain of benevolence in his disposition, would hesitate to perform so simple and gratifying an act of duty? Dog-biscuit is a hard and well-baked mass of coarse, yet clean and wholesome flour, of an inferior kind to that known as sailors' biscuit; and this latter substance, indeed, would be the best substitute for the former with which we are acquainted. A bag of dog-biscuit of five shillings' value, will be an ample supply for a yard-dog during the year: it should be soaked in water, or " pot liquor," for an hour or two ; and if no meat be at hand, a little dripping or lard may be added to it while softening, which will make a relishing meal at a trifling cost. We have for many years known the utility of the plan thus advocated, and we earnestly recommend all who value the safety of the community and their own (to say nothing of the happiness of the canine race), to make trial of the rational and feasible plan which we have detailed." (1841) [12]
In later years, dog biscuits began to be made of meat products and were sometimes treated as synonymous with dog food. In 1871, an ad appeared in Cassell's Illustrated Almanac for "SLATER'S MEAT BISCUIT FOR DOGS - Contains vegetable substances and about 25 per cent of Prepared Meat. It gives Dogs endurance, and without any other food will keep them in fine working condition." [13]
In England, Spratt's Dog Biscuits not only obtained a patent but seems to have claimed to have invented the food:
By most accounts, the history of the industry begins with a man named James Spratt. An electrician from Cincinnati, Spratt had patented a new type of lightning conductor in 1850. Later in the decade, he traveled to England to sell it. According to industry lore, he had a quayside epiphany in London when he saw a group of dogs eating discarded hardtack, the cheap, tough biscuits carried on ships and known to sailors as "molar breakers." The first major chunk of today's pet industry was born. In 1860, still in England, Spratt unveiled Spratt's Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes, a combination of wheat, beetroot, vegetables, and beef blood. Before long, he had competitors with names like Dr. A. C. Daniels' Medicated Dog Bread and F. H. Bennett's Malatoid Dog Biscuits. The products embraced the dubious science and the lightly regulated hucksterism of their era. (2009) [14]
More than 70 years ago, in a little shop in London an electrician named James Spratt conducted experiments which led to the production of Spratt's Patent—a scientifically blended dog food. It was the first attempt to lift the dog out of the class of scavenger which he had occupied from caveman times. The market was untouched, and in those early days, Spratt's Patent secured a bull-dog grip on it that it has never relinquished, despite the fact that in the past seventy years many competitors have tried to wrest the leadership from them. (1920) [15]
In at least one case (in 1886) Spratt sued a seller accused of substituting another product - an early example of a company fighting "knock-offs":
Spratt's Dog Biscuits.
On Wednesday last, in the Quean's Bench Division of the High Court, before Lord Coleridge and a special jury. Spratt's Patent Company claimed an injunction against a Mr. Warnett, a general dealer at St. Albans, who, they alleged, was selling as theirs certain meat biscuits for dogs not of their manufacture. They also asked for an account of profits, and damages and costs.
The case for the plaintiffs was that for many years they and their predecessor, James Spratt, had manufactured and sold, under patents of 1868 and 1881, meat biscuits for feeding dogs, the full name or description of which is " Spratt's Patent Meat Fibrine Dog Cakes," but which are often designated by them, and are commonly known in the trade, as " Spratt's Fibrine Biscuits," or " Spratt's Dog Biscuits," or " Spratt's Dog Cakes," or " Spratt's Meat Biscuits," or " Spratt's Patent Biscuits," or " Patent Dog Biscuits," all which, as the plaintiffs asserted, indicated biscuits of their manufacture and no other. These biscuits are made in a square form, and each is stamped with the words " Spratt's Patent" and with a + in the centre. It was alleged that " the biscuits have been found most valuable as food for dogs, and have acquired a great reputation." They are in large demand, and the plaintiffs make considerable profits from the sale thereof, which profits would be considerably larger but that, as they alleged, fraudulent imitations are frequently palmed off upon the public as the biscuits of the plaintiffs, and then it was charged that the defendant had, in fraud of the plaintiffs and of the public, " been selling to the public, as genuine dog biscuits of the plaintiffs' manufacture, biscuits which are not of the plaintiffs' manufacture, but are a fraudulent imitation thereof as to shape and appearance, and which do not contain the ingredients of the plaintiffs' biscuits." Then several instances were stated in which persons who sent to the shop of the defendant to ask for Spratt's dog biscuits received other biscuits similar, as was alleged, to the plaintiffs' in size, appearance, and weight, the only difference being that, in lieu of the words " Spratt's Patent " and the cross, the biscuits sold were stamped with a hexagon and the words " American meat."
Mr. Horton Smith, Q.C., in opening the case for the plaintiffs, said that, suspecting that their biscuits were being pirated by the defendant, they adopted the usual course of sending persons to his shop to ask for Spratt's dog biscuits, and in every instance Benton's American meat biscuits, which were similar in shape, size, and general character, were delivered. (April 10, 1886) [16]
Spratt lost in this case and the judge regretted that he could not grant the defendant court costs.
At one point after this, as an industrial product, dog biscuits were classified in the same category as soap: "Of the making of dog biscuits, which the census places in the same category with soap, as using animal refuse from which soap grease has been extracted, it is unnecessary to say much." [17]
Spratt dominated the American market until 1907, when F. H. Bennett, whose own dog biscuits were faring poorly against those of the larger company, had the idea of making them in the shape of a bone. "His 'Maltoid Milk-Bones' were such a success that for the next fifteen years Bennett's Milk-Bone dominated the commercial dog food market in America." [18] In 1931, the National Biscuit Company, now known as Nabisco, bought the company.
The world's largest dog biscuit weighs 279.87 kg and was baked to be 2,000 times larger than average by Hampshire Pet Products from Joplin, Missouri, US. [19]
Spanish cuisine consists of the traditions and practices of Spanish cooking. It features considerable regional diversity, with important differences between the traditions of each of Spain's regional cuisines.
A sandwich is a dish typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a portable, convenient finger food in the Western world, though over time it has become prevalent worldwide.
Pigs in a blanket in the United States is a small hot dog or other sausage wrapped in pastry similar to a sausage roll in the UK, it is commonly served as an appetizer in the United States. The similarity in name with that of the UK dish pigs in blankets, which is a sausage wrapped in bacon, sometimes causes confusion.
Pemmican is a mixture of tallow, dried meat, and sometimes dried berries. A calorie-rich food, it can be used as a key component in prepared meals or eaten raw. Historically, it was an important part of indigenous cuisine in certain parts of North America and it is still prepared today.
Dog food is specifically formulated and intended for consumption by dogs and other related canines. Dogs are considered to be omnivores with a carnivorous bias. They have the sharp, pointed teeth and shorter gastrointestinal tracts of carnivores, better suited for the consumption of meat than of vegetable substances, yet also have ten genes that are responsible for starch and glucose digestion, as well as the ability to produce amylase, an enzyme that functions to break down carbohydrates into simple sugars – something that obligate carnivores like cats lack. Dogs evolved the ability living alongside humans in agricultural societies, as they managed on scrap leftovers and excrement from humans.
A biscuit, in most English speaking countries, is a flour-based baked and shaped food item. Biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be savoury, similar to crackers. Types of biscuit include sandwich biscuits, digestive biscuits, ginger biscuits, shortbread biscuits, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate-coated marshmallow treats, Anzac biscuits, biscotti, and speculaas.
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 Scottish 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. Historically, some producers used diastatic malt extract to "digest" some of the starch that existed in flour prior to baking.
Hardtack is a type of dense biscuit or cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages, land migrations, and military campaigns. Along with salt pork and corned beef, hardtack was a standard ration for many militaries and navies from the 17th to the early 20th centuries.
Jamón is a type of dry-cured ham produced in Spain. It is one of the most globally recognized food items of Spanish cuisine. It is also regularly a component of tapas.
Pambazo is a Mexican dish or antojito made with pambazo bread dipped and fried in a red guajillo pepper sauce. It is traditionally filled with papas con chorizo or with papas only but there are different varieties.
The cemita is a sandwich originally from Puebla, Mexico. Also known as cemita poblana, it derives from the city of Puebla. The word refers to the sandwich as well as to the roll it is typically served on, a bread roll covered with sesame seeds. Additionally, the ingredients usually are restricted to sliced avocado, meat, Oaxaca cheese, onions, the herb pápalo and chipotle adobado, or jalapeño.
A breakfast sandwich is any sandwich filled with foods associated with breakfast. Breakfast sandwiches are served at fast food restaurants and delicatessens, sold in supermarkets, or commonly made at home. Different types of breakfast sandwich include the bacon sandwich, the egg sandwich, and the sausage sandwich; or various combinations thereof, like the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich. The breakfast sandwich is related to the breakfast roll.
Uruguayan cuisine is a fusion of cuisines from several European countries, especially of Mediterranean foods from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Other influences on the cuisine resulted from immigration from countries such as Germany and Scotland. Uruguayan gastronomy is a result of immigration, rather than local Amerindian cuisine, because of late-19th and early 20th century immigration waves of, mostly, Italians. Spanish influences are abundant: desserts like churros, flan, ensaimadas yoo (Catalan sweet bread), and alfajores were all brought from Spain. There are also all kinds of stews known as guisos or estofados, arroces, and fabada. All of the guisos and traditional pucheros (stews) are also of Spanish origin. Uruguayan preparations of fish, such as dried salt cod (bacalao), calamari, and octopus, originate from the Basque and Galician regions, and also Portugal. Due to its strong Italian tradition, all of the famous Italian pasta dishes are present in Uruguay including ravioli, lasagne, tortellini, fettuccine, and the traditional gnocchi. Although the pasta can be served with many sauces, there is one special sauce that was created by Uruguayans. Caruso sauce is a pasta sauce made from double cream, meat, onions, ham and mushrooms. It is very popular with sorrentinos and agnolotti. Additionally, there is Germanic influence in Uruguayan cuisine as well, particularly in sweet dishes. The pastries known as bizcochos are Germanic in origin: croissants, known as medialunas, are the most popular of these, and can be found in two varieties: butter- and lard-based. Also German in origin are the Berlinese known as bolas de fraile, and the rolls called piononos. The facturas were re-christened with local names given the difficult German phonology, and usually Uruguayanized by the addition of a dulce de leche filling. Even dishes like chucrut (sauerkraut) have also made it into mainstream Uruguayan dishes.
Bonio is a brand of dog biscuit sold in the United Kingdom. It was originally sold by Spratts Patent Ltd. of London some 75 years ago, but through various acquisitions, it is now marketed by Nestlé Purina PetCare. Bonio is produced in Aintree, Liverpool.
Spratt's was the world's first large-scale manufacturer of dog biscuits. The company successfully promoted their array of products for dogs and other domestic animals through the astute use of snob appeal. The company was the first to erect a billboard in London. Varieties of biscuits included 'Dog Cakes', puppy biscuits in regular and with cod liver oil, 'Malt-milk' for puppies, 'Weetmeet', 'Bonio', 'Spix', 'Ovals' in regular and mixed varieties, 'Fibo' granulated kibble food, 'Rodnim' hound meal, Alsax, Speedall, as well as a tinned food variety.
Mazamorra or masamorra is the name for numerous traditional dishes from the Iberian Peninsula and Hispanic America.
Spratt's Complex is a housing development in Poplar, London. The former pet food factory was converted into approximately 150 live-work units beginning in 1985. This was one of the first such warehouse conversions in London. The complex is on Morris Road, lining Limehouse Cut canal, and is situated between the DLR stations of Langdon Park and Devons Road.
Yup'ik cuisine refers to the Eskimo style traditional subsistence food and cuisine of the Yup'ik people from the western and southwestern Alaska. Also known as Cup'ik cuisine for the Chevak Cup'ik dialect speaking Eskimos of Chevak and Cup'ig cuisine for the Nunivak Cup'ig dialect speaking Eskimos of Nunivak Island. This cuisine is traditionally based on meat from fish, birds, sea and land mammals, and normally contains high levels of protein. Subsistence foods are generally considered by many to be nutritionally superior superfoods. Yup’ik diet is different from Alaskan Inupiat, Canadian Inuit, and Greenlandic diets. Fish as food are primary food for Yup'ik Eskimos. Both food and fish called neqa in Yup'ik. Food preparation techniques are fermentation and cooking, also uncooked raw. Cooking methods are baking, roasting, barbecuing, frying, smoking, boiling, and steaming. Food preservation methods are mostly drying and less often frozen. Dried fish is usually eaten with seal oil. The ulu or fan-shaped knife is used for cutting up fish, meat, food, and such.
The mollete de Antequera is a typical bread of Andalusia, Spain, that has a seal of protection IGP. There are a multitude of breads under the same name "mollete" in Andalusia, Extremadura and America. But the mollete de Antequera is characterized by a white and floured crust, and a soft crumb that easily crumbles, the result of a hydrated and lightly kneaded dough and a slow baking. The mollete de Antequera is one of the typical breads of Andalusia, the main feature of the Andalusian breakfast.
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