| Garibaldi biscuit | |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Creator: | Jonathan Carr |
| Type: | Biscuit |
| Main Ingredient: | Currants, biscuits |
The Garibaldi biscuit consists of currants squashed and sandwiched between two thin oblongs of biscuit dough before baking. The biscuits are similar to Eccles cake as well as the Golden Fruit Raisin Biscuits once made by Sunshine Biscuits.
Popular with British consumers as a snack for over 150 years, the Garibaldi biscuit is conventionally consumed with tea or coffee. The biscuits also exist under different names in other countries, including Australia (with the name "Full O'Fruit")[1] and New Zealand (with the name "Fruitli Golden Fruit").[2] In The Netherlands, a similar biscuit, called Sultana, has been produced since 1935 by Verkade.[3]
When bought in supermarkets in the UK (under several brands, all very similar), Garibaldi biscuits usually come in four strips of five biscuits each. They have a golden brown, glazed exterior and a moderately sweet pastry, but their defining characteristic is the layer of squashed fruit which gives rise to the colloquial names fly sandwiches, flies' graveyards, dead fly biscuits,, squashed fly biscuits, or in New Zealand, fly traps, because the squashed fruit resemble squashed flies.[4] [5]
The Garibaldi biscuit was named after Giuseppe Garibaldi, the famous Italian general, revolutionary and leader of the struggle to unify the Kingdom of Italy, which finally was achieved in 1861. Garibaldi made a popular visit to South Shields in England in 1854, legend has it that he sat on two biscuits when meeting Joseph Cowen on this visit.[6] However, it is more likely it was first manufactured by the Bermondsey biscuit company Peek Freans in 1861 following the recruitment of Jonathan Carr, one of the great biscuit makers of Carlisle.[6] In the United States, the Sunshine Biscuit Company for many years made a popular version of the Garibaldi with raisins which it called "Golden Fruit". Sunshine was bought out by the Keebler Company which briefly expanded the line to include versions filled with other fruits. The entire Golden Fruit product line was discontinued when the Keebler company became a division of Kellogg's in 2001.
Varieties covered with plain or milk chocolate have also been marketed in the past, but appear not to have been available for many years.