Arrowroot Biscuits

Arrowroot biscuits are light, crisp biscuits made with arrowroot starch, a specialty of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines tied to the islands' arrowroot production. Arrowroot is a starch made from the root of the arrowroot plant, and the biscuit is one of the everyday ways it is used on the islands. The starch is baked into a short, buttery dough alongside wheat flour, sugar and egg, which gives the biscuit a pale, delicate bite.

What it really is

Butter, sugar, egg, wheat flour and arrowroot starch are worked into a firm dough, shaped or cut into small rounds, and baked until pale gold and crisp. Arrowroot starch has no gluten and gives a lighter, crisper bite than flour alone. Recipes differ in how much starch they use against flour and in how sweet they are, so one batch can be noticeably crisper or richer than another.

The flour is wheat, so the biscuit is not gluten-free, even though the starch is.

How it's served

• Dry and at room temperature, usually with tea, coffee or a cold drink.
• As a snack between meals rather than as a plated dessert.
• Packed in a tin or bag and kept dry, because the crispness fades in humid air.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the biscuit as arrowroot biscuits and say whether it is baked in-house or bought in.
• Flag wheat, egg and milk (from the butter). Mark wheat clearly, since guests may assume that a starch-based biscuit is gluten-free.
• Give the portion as a count or a weight, such as two biscuits or 30 g.
• If the biscuits are served with tea or coffee, list the sugar and milk added to the drink as separate items.