Culinary History | Cake Rusk

Doubled-baked bread, historically known as "rusk," originated as a method to preserve bread by baking it twice. The first baking would cook the bread, and the second baking would dry it out, preventing spoilage. This technique dates back to Mesopotamia and Ancient Greece. It was primarily used as food by soldiers and travellers.

Cake rusk, as we know it today, is simply a refined version of this twice-baked bread, developed in Europe in the 17th to 18th centuries and introduced to the Indian Subcontinent during the British Raj.

The name “rusk” comes from Medieval Latin "rousco," meaning twice-baked. Some of the earliest forms of twice-baked bread trace back to ancient Mesopotamia and Greece, with names such as "paximadi" in Byzantine culture.​

Fast forward a few hundred years, particularly the 17th and 18th centuries, when cake rusk evolved in Europe, as a sweeter cake-like twice-baked bread, often served with tea. The British and Dutch popularised this form, and it became a common staple aboard ships and in military rations.​

The Portuguese are credited with introducing bread to regions like Goa, while the French and British introduced white bread varieties elsewhere. On that note, the introduction of bread here refers to bread baking as a widespread culinary practice, particularly with ovens and yeast-leavened bread. The Portuguese created bread types like "pao" or "pav," adapting recipes because local baking tools and yeast were scarce. The British later popularised Western-style breads, which led to the development of cake rusk and the modern Pakistani bread culture.

The Turkish influence on bread in India is indeed significant, especially through the Mughal Empire. They brought many culinary influences, including various breads from the traditions of the Steppe and Central Asia overall. So whilst people were not entirely estranged to bread, it had not developed as a household staple. That is largely credited to European colonisers. Personally, I think we may have been doing just alright with naan, chappatian and lachaydaar parathay.

We digress. Circling back, when the British arrived in India, they also brought their tea culture and associated treats, including cake rusk. The cake rusk became a popular tea-time snack, evolving to suit local tastes and ingredients, becoming a part of local tea culture. And that is how it became a bakery essential across Pakistan.