I walk the earth

[venta]

Apologies to the dieters out there. After yesterday's chocolate outburst, today it's biscuits.

Yesterday, grumblesmurf was heard to wonder, while rummaging in the biscuit tin, why Garibaldi biscuits were so named. What was the link between revolutionaries and biscuits ?

Being blessed both with a reputation for knowing useless trivia and with the ability to say anything with a straight face, I nearly managed to persuade him that Garibaldi invented them. Sadly, his natural curmudgeonly suspicion carried the day, and I had to concede I was making it up. I promised to find out why they were called after the Italian chap.

So, I typed "Why are Garibaldi biscuits so called?" into AskJeeves. I'd like to report that for once in his life, Jeeves came back with the right answer; I'm sure that would make a nice narrative twist. However, he didn't, he produced his usual meaningless pile of garbage. I only tried to give the old boy a chance.

A lengthy session with google produced nothing much more informative. One encyclopaedia says they are named after Garibaldi "apparently arbitrarily", and there are vague references to them being named "in his honour".

The only explanation going seems to be from an off hand remark on the home page of Stirling, in Scotland:

All that remains of Scotland's love of Garibaldi today is our fondness for Garibaldi biscuits, which had their origin in the flour and raisin rations for his army.

Which is plausible, I guess.

It's quite interesting, you know, the number of biscuits that are named after revolutionaries. You've got your Garibaldi, of course, you've got your Bourbons, then of course you've got your Peek Freens Trotsky Assortment.

I'll post a squashed-fly biscuit to the first person who can, without cheating, correctly attribute that quote.

(Cheating is defined as using search-engines, searching offline databases, or anything else I arbitrarily and retroactively define to be cheating.)

Comments

[stompyboots.livejournal.com]

I haven't got a clue, but I like biscuits, so I'm guessing Eddie Izzard. (Even though I've not seen/heard any of his work, it sounds like the sort of thing people have quoted at me in the past.)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Actually, now you mention it, it does sound very like something Mr Izzard might say. But no.

You really should check out his stuff though, it's very funny.

[stompyboots.livejournal.com]

You realise I'm going to keep on guessing until someone else gets it or you post me a biscuit to shut me up, don't you?

1. Stalin
2. Jethro Tull
3. Jonathan Ross
4. Barbara Windsor
5. John Lydon

I'll be back with more later, as I think the above are untenable. It would be funny if one were true, though. ;)

[venta.livejournal.com]

All right, all right, I'll post you a biscuit!

Call it an award for correct use of the subjunctive in the above comment, or something. Mail me your address or provide the name of a reputable supplier of correctly-trained homing pigeons.

[stompyboots.livejournal.com]

When using hoing (think I'll keep that typo in) pigeons, I always trust Renardo's. Hoing pigeons with true pimp style.

(Address is on its way over in a minute.)