Zwieback is a form of rusk eaten in Germany, Poland, Scandinavia, Austria, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Turkey. It is a type of crisp, sweetened

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

, made with eggs and

baked Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...

twice. It originated in

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. According to Fabian Scheidler, Albrecht von Wallenstein invented zwieback to feed his mercenary army during the Thirty Years' War. The Mennonites brought ''Zwieback'' to the Russian Empire; before the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

, when many emigrated to the west, they brought ''Zwieback'' to Canada, the United States and other parts of the world. There are two types of zwieback. One type is made by pinching round pieces of dough, placing one piece on top of another, pressing them together by pushing a finger down through both pieces. It is then baked and served as warm soft rolls. This type is identified with Mennonites. The other type is a bread sliced before it is baked a second time, which produces crisp, brittle slices that closely resemble melba toast.Zwieback - Medical Dictionary Definition
/ref> ''Zwieback'' is commonly used to feed teething babies and as the first solid food for patients with an upset stomach. The name comes from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

''zwei'' ("two") or ''zwie'' ("twi-"), and ''backen'', meaning "to bake".zwieback - Health Information About zwieback , Encyclopedia.com: Dictionary Of Food and Nutrition
/ref> ''Zwieback'' hence literally translates to "twice-baked". The French and Italian names, respectively, ''biscotte'' and ''fette biscottate'' have the same origin, ''biscotto'' (biscuit), which also means twice ("bis-") baked (-"cotto"). The Slovene name is ''prepečenec'' which would imply baked over ordinary or overbaked. The Serbo-Croatian name is ''dvopek'' which, again, is literally twice (''dvo'') baked (''pek'').

References

German breads Sweet breads Twice-baked goods {{Germany-bread-stub

See also

References