Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Zwieback

     When I saw zwieback on sale in the Wegman's a couple of months ago, my first thought was of Scrabble.  Which probably deserves some explanation.  Years ago I was reading about the popular word board game, and it mentioned that "zwieback" was the 8 letter word with the highest point total.  (To continue this aside, I looked it up again, and things have changed a little.  Zwieback is worth 28 points, which is still very high, but there are a few other 8 letter words which equal it, such as "highjack," "maximize," and "oxazepam."  Also, at least one currently accepted 8 letter word is worth more--"sovkhozy," which means "having the elements of a Soviet state farm," and is 30 points.)

     But back to the food.  Zwieback means "twice baked," in German, first off.  It's also a form of "rusk," which refers to a type of hard dry biscuit, usually baked twice.  Although, somewhat confusingly, one sub-type of zwieback, made by the Mennonite religious group, involves a variant that is only baked once, and is a soft, warm roll.  However, the most common kind of zwieback is baked, sliced, and then baked again, causing a hard, dry, bread-like result.  As the name suggests, zwieback is associated with Germany, but this food is also common throughout most of Europe, and into Turkey.  It was originally developed in East Prussia, which is now parts of Poland, Russia, and Lithuania.  The Mennonites further introduced it to selected areas of Russia, Canada, and the U.S.

    The other aspect most associated with zwieback is that it's considered to be baby food.  Specifically for teething infants, who like to chew on things.  It's also known as a bland, simple, food appropriate for folks suffering from stomach ailments.  I asked my parents, and they don't recall giving zwieback to me when I was a baby.  Evidently it wasn't that popular in Southern New Jersey in the early 1970's.

     The company that made the zwieback I had was Brandt, which, not surprisingly is German.  Carl Brandt started the company back in 1912, serving rusk and sponge cake in a horse-drawn cart.  By 1929 the process for making their rusk/zwieback was mechanized.   Zwieback almost never has artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives.  The low moisture content (only 4%, as compared to regular bread's 45%) due to the second baking serves as a very effective preservative already.  Zwieback is rather akin to traditional military rations, or "hard tack" for sailors (although hopefully without the weevils that commonly infected the tack on board).  Brandt is pretty specialized, too, as its alternate products are essentially other kinds of zwieback, such as mini-zwieback pieces, and flavored zwieback.  The packaging for Brandt knows who its customer base is, as well.  A small child is featured on the front, under the family name.  The box also warns that, "small children should not be left unattended while eating zwieback."  Which sounds like sound advice, no matter what your kids are eating.

1) Brandt zwieback:  It looked like tiny slices of bread--about 6.5 cm. (about 2.75 inches) square, with a crust and a yellowish-white color.  Very dry and crunchy.  Texture was similar to melba toast, but taste was much better, with a hint of sweetness.  I also tried it with several condiments.  It was okay with yellow mustard, with ketchup, and with Taco Bell hot sauce.  (I know I use Taco Bell sauce to augment a lot of foods on this blog--I happen to grab extra packets every time I go, so I have a large supply of it on hand, and the packets are very portable.)  Finally, I dipped some pieces in milk, and this was once again decent.  I will say my parents liked it better than I did, and they probably also had it as children.

     Going in, I had some misgivings about zwieback.  I thought it would be tasteless and nasty like melba toast.  But, it was significantly better than that.  It rather reminded me of another kind of twice baked "bread," the Finnish crispbreads I tried recently (see my November 3, 2018 post).