|
|
|
| Tue, Nov. 24 - - Mobile - RSS | |
|
|
Leftover biscuit stands test of time
The biscuit time forgot
Date published: 9/10/2006
By EDIE GROSS The sausage-and-cheese biscuit lay in state in a window of the former Fredericksburg Hardware building for at least three months before someone hung a banner in the window announcing the Jaycees Haunted House. "Well," observed a co-worker, inspecting the aged biscuit through the glass, "it is kind of scary." Scary indeed. The fast-food breakfast sandwich had become a curiosity since showing up in the William Street window sometime in late May. It was unwrapped but still nestled in the waxed paper, as if someone had been poised to eat it, then simply got distracted--or thought better of it. As the weeks ticked by, passersby, both nauseated and intrigued, marveled at its unchanging condition. The biscuit possessed a waxy, Leninesque complexion, the cheese having taken on a beige, translucent pallor, the sausage appearing a tad hockey-puckish. But much like the former Soviet leader, preserved behind glass long after death, the biscuit appeared remarkably lifelike, not all that different from the day it was abandoned on the windowsill. How, folks wondered, could something seemingly organic be exposed all summer long to bugs, sunlight and 100-plus-degree temperatures and not decompose? Furthermore, how could the stomach--human in its imperfection--break down something that Mother Nature could not? Ancient Egyptian secretThe key to the biscuit's survival, according to food scientist Barry Swanson, is its moisture content--or in this case, the lack thereof. Bugs need water to survive. Mold needs water to grow. And quite frankly, neither would be interested in a foodstuff with all the moisture of a sheet of sandpaper. Put simply, the sausage biscuit was just too dry to attract insects or microbes. "It was probably pretty dry to start with, but it got drier over a period of time," said Swanson, a food-science communicator with the Institute of Food Technologists. "As soon as it gets moisture, it's going to attract a lot more attention. As long as it stays really, really dry, it just sits there like a piece of wood." The biscuit is also likely to be the beneficiary of preservatives. The best preservatives bind water in one place, said Swanson. That way, the water can't evaporate, so the food stays moist for the customer. But the water isn't readily available, so it doesn't attract unwanted visitors.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 9/10/2006
|
 |
|||
|
|||
