BISKIT OF MUSLIN

This post is about hardtack, which is the only bread-like food I really care for. Even though hardtack was originally made to feed armies, crackers are still very popular today and even listed as health food -especially if they contain wholewheat flour. Egyptian sailors, Roman legionarii, medieval fighters, and the British navy (until the 19th century) lived, sometimes exclusively, on hardtack. Ancient & medieval versions were small flat cakes usually baked twice (bis-coctum). Original recipes are difficult -if not impossible- to find. For the medieval version that I hoped to re-create in my kitchen, there was even less to start with.

Richard I of England is being anointed (from a 13th c. chronicle)

When Richard I of England left for Palestine in 1190 to join the Third Crusade, his ships were loaded with hardtack. According to historical references, consulted by the British Royal Navy Museum, this was named 'biskit of muslin' and consisted of barley, rye and bean* flour. Unfortunately, no recipe is available. Important details about this biscuit, including its shape, texture, flavor, and weight are therefore unknown. Was it based on mostly wholegrain flour of barley & rye? Was it dense and heavy? Did it contain much salt? Did the bean* flour help lighten its texture? Or did they just add some into the dough because there was no softer (wheat) flour available? What does 'muslin' refer to? Did it have anything to do with crispness? Was this hardtack really baked twice? How much was needed to sustain a grown man? Was it good enough for Lionheart himself -or did he avoid plain food as the character does in Ivanhoe?

Even without a recipe, creating something eatable that is based on the facts already known is not so difficult. One thing you might not easily find in your market is the bean* flour. You could make some yourself in a heavy-duty blender, otherwise the process is a little complicated. Since I only have a regular food processor, I cooked a small amount of beans and pulsed them with a little water. This is something that I also do with lentils, I pulse them and mix with flour, resulting in very good bread that makes delicious toast. 

BISKIT OF MUSLIN - version 1

This crispbread is very light because of the relatively high amount of processed beans used in comparison with grain flours. You could make it a little softer by using twice as much bean* flour; however, the order of ingredients in the description of the British Royal Navy Museum starts with grain flours so I believe the original 'biskit of muslin' was denser than cracker (which is made entirely of soft wheat flour) and drier than biscuit (which contains a small amount of fat). 

I n g r e d i e n t s

150g beans*

150g barley flour

150g rye flour

1.5tsp salt

M e t h o d

1. Cook the beans* in plenty of water until nearly melted. Pour, along with the liquid, in a bowl and set aside. Strain the beans* when cool and pulse with 3-5tbsp of the liquid. 2. In another bowl, combine the flours with the salt. Add the processed beans* and use your fingers to mix the ingredients thoroughly. It should look like crumbs, as in tart dough. 3. Stir in 100ml of the bean* liquid and knead to form a soft dough. In the mean time, set the oven to 200C. 4. Roll the dough on a floured table. (You will need more flour to keep the rolling pin dry.) I made it 0.5cm thick but you can opt for thicker. 5. Use a pizza cutter to divide into squares. Place them on baking sheets lined with non-stick parchment, and bake for 35 minutes or so. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through baking. 6. Leave in the cooling oven for several hours. Keep in a biscuit tin.

BISKIT OF MUSLIN - version 2

This is a more substantial crispbread as it contains more flour than processed beans*. It's therefore just as hard to bite as the other version -in fact, harder, unless you dip into a liquid (eg. soup). Slightly adjusting the thickness of the rolled dough could yield a lighter crispbread that should be either double-baked or left in a cooling oven for several hours.

I n g r e d i e n t s
100g beans*
300g barley flour
200g rye flour
1tbsp salt
 

M e t h o d

1) Cook the beans* in plenty of water until nearly melted. Pour, along with the liquid, in a bowl and set aside. Strain the beans* when cool and pulse with 3-5tbsp of the liquid. Return to your bowl, add 100ml of the liquid and mix well. 2) In a second bowl, combine the flours with the salt. Add the processed beans* and use your fingers to mix the ingredients thoroughly. It should look like crumbs, as in tart dough. 3) Stir in another 100ml of the bean* liquid and knead to form a soft dough. In the mean time, set the oven to 200C. 4) Roll the dough on a floured table. Make it 0.5cm thick (or thicker, in which case you must adjust the baking time). 5) Use a glass turned upside down to make circles. Place them on baking sheets lined with non-stick parchment, and bake for 45 minutes. Rotate the baking sheets halfway through baking. 6) Leave to cool on a wire rack. Keep in a biscuit tin.

 

*EDITED ON 29.10.2021

It appears that 'beans' -however clearly mentioned in the British Royal Navy Museum's data sheet-  does not refer to beans as we know them since pulses of the genus 'phaseolus' did not arrive in Europe until after the conquest of the Americas. It's therefore best to use fava beans, lentils, or chickpeas in these recipes. The latter two are often dried and sold as flour in the market, which is handy, but in this case you must adjust the quantity of liquid. (For 150g each of chickpea, barley and wholewheat flour, I used 300ml of water.)